‘Quirk’ in solar system will see five worlds align

[malaise]

https://www.rt.com/news/329285-five-planets-align-space/
<snip>
Stargazers will be able to catch a rare space show this month as five planets are due to align - although they’ll have to wake up early to see it.

According to EarthSky, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars, and Jupiter will string across the sky from 20 January for around a month.

It’s the first time in more than a decade that the stellar positioning will be visible with the naked eye from Earth.

Those seeking to get a glimpse of all planets are advised to look out for brightest moon Venus, before drawing an imaginary line east to west linking up with ringed Saturn, Mars and Jupiter.

[Ghost in the Machine]

1. Cool! Thanks for the heads-up, malaise! n/t

[Baclava]

2. It's a Sign

[Octafish]

3. Astronomy is so cool.

Magnificent cosmos we are in.



Shows how great it is to be a human being.

[ChisolmTrailDem]

6. And it's getting cooler as time goes on, Octafish...

Can't wait 'til this monster starts it's long stare at the universe...

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/apr/20/spot-alien-life-european-extremely-large-telescope-chilean

[malaise]

11. That's gorgeous

and yes it's very cool

[ryan_cats]

4. Any monoliths about?

Any monoliths about?

[ChisolmTrailDem]

7. There is no echo in space...

[krispos42]

13. Lack of evidence of monoliths...

...is not evidence of lack of monoliths.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. It's going to be real tough seeing Mercury

Mercury never strays far from the horizon and it's only visible just after sunset or just before sunrise, so you'll need a good unobstructed horizon to see it.

[CBGLuthier]

8. Wow, and so far not one peep from the "we're all gonna die" looney tune crowd.

Have they lost their taste for dire predictions about conjunctions.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. It's not a conjunction - that's when they appear at the same place in the sky

For this, they're going to be in a neat line, stretching from low in the sky in the south east, to reasonably high in the south west. Though, as I said below, there will be a conjunction of Mercury and Pluto, though that's not a planet (and nowhere near visible to the naked eye either, while this line will be all the 5 planets that are visible to the naked eye).

[muriel_volestrangler]

9. For Pluto fans, it will also be in almost exactly the same position as Mercury

at the end of January, and then. as Mercury moves slightly away from it, Venus moves toward it, and the Moon - on the morning of Feb 6th Pluto, Venus, Mercury and the Moon (nearly new) will be so close together you could probably cover them all up with the palm of your hand at arm's length.

A browser-based planetarium: http://neave.com/planetarium/

[malaise]

12. Thanks

[panader0]

14. It's the end of the world again!

My buddy, who listens to George Noory, told me so.

[malaise]

15. Ask you buddy to bequeath everything to me

I'll keep it until he returns.