Is there something unusual happening in our skies these nights?
Yes indeed. A “rare event” in the night sky means six planets are observable even to amateur astronomers, says Kerem Cubuk of the Armagh Planetarium and Observatory. The six planets visible since Tuesday (and with visibility due to peak on Saturday, weather permitting) are Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Four of them – Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – should be seen easily with the naked eye, by simply looking skyward once it is dark. Uranus and Neptune, the outer planets, can be viewed through binoculars or a basic telescope.
Six planets? That’s impressive.
And there is more to come. “You can start observing Venus and Saturn from 6pm, but then they will set. Jupiter and Mars will be in the night sky for the night,” says Cubuk. “Both Mercury and Neptune will be very close to the sun. So you will be able to see seven planets in the sky on February 28th, but only for a short time after sunset.”
I’m no astronomy expert. How can I spot these planets?
Smartphone apps can help amateur astronomers locate the planets accurately. Venus, which is the third brightest object in the sky aside from the sun and moon, should be easily visible as a white dot in the sky. Saturn will appear beside it in the southwest. Both planets can be easily located as they are close to the constellation of Orion, which is the most conspicuous of the constellations in the winter sky.
Directly to the right of Orion is Jupiter and left of it is the unmistakable red disc of Mars. The best time to view the planetary alignments is about 7pm in the evening. Uranus is also high in the night sky, visible to the right of Jupiter. Neptune is only visible with a telescope in the same area of sky as Venus and Saturn.
Is there any prospect of humans visiting these planets any time soon?
Well, US president Donald Trump, in his inaugural address, did renew a pledge to send people to Mars.“We will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the stars and stripes on the planet Mars,” he said this week.
Cubak says the prospect of humans setting foot on Mars is technically feasible, but may not happen until the late 2030s at the earliest. “It will be very psychologically challenging because nobody has spent more than a year in space, but it is definitely feasible.
“A lot of people are upset about Trump, but he may be a good thing for space missions.”
