For a few weeks, we had to get up early to attend the ceremony Combinations Of planets and other celestial bodiesLunar eclipse as well as Shooting Star Storm Tau Herculedis (Last Monday)!

Now, a week later Mars crossed Jupiter InIn the morning There are five planets in one corner of the sky Solar System At the end of the night they appear together to the east. The five planets are perfectly visibleEye Naked, including very bright Thursday Etc. Venus. Of course, this is not the first time this year that we can congratulate them Gathered at the same timeBut the novelty – if one can say so – is that in the coming weeks they will be presented in real order of distance. In SoleThat has not happened – from Earth’s point of view – since December 2004.

Mercury is currently the closest planet to Earth

So when you put nez Outside after 4am, do you see yourself lined up on the imaginary line?Ecliptic (Map of thisOrbit Planets) in the lowest to highest order on the horizon: Venus, Mars, and Jupiter Sat.. Mercury Also, this Friday, June 3rd, it arrives just before sunrise, so it will be very low, so it’s hard to tell the brightness of the morning. It will get better next week as it rises.

In parentheses, since we are talking MercuryBe the most careful Small planet The Solar System – closest to the Sun – is currently closest to Earth. Instead of Venus or Mars, Mercury, which is 92 million kilometers (only), separates us from it today, with Venus being 184.6 million and our normal neighbor Mars 216 million. Naturally, this is constantly changing in the rhythm of each’s revolutions.

Of the five visible planets, Saturn first rises at 2 am. After that Jupiter and Mars, east over, an hour and a half later.

Gift from Heaven: Five Planets Deployed in 2018

Article of Xavier Dimmersman Published October 17, 2018

What a wonder in the sky of this beginningFalling, Very soft. As the sun sets, you can see the five brightest planets. But it’s not just them …

This summer, especially JulyAlmost all the planets in the Solar System, except Earth, were visible at night. Some without equipment and others with the help of binoculars Telescopes. There was even a comet rejoicing with the limitation visible to the naked eye (C / 2017 S3 Panstarrs) And famous Asteroid (Vesta) …

Three months later, all the planets reunite at night. When the sky is full of stars, you can easily see the five brightest as the sun goes down. Venus Mercury first, in the first light Twilight. However, this is the limit, because they are both very low on the horizon and therefore go very fast. Also, in order to get the best opportunity to observe them, it is necessary to select sites with very clear western horizons.

The Moon invites itself into the center of the deployed planets

Slightly higher in the sky, you will notice Jupiter “falling light” above the southwest horizon. The Giant planet One of them Stars Definitely the brightest time of the evening with the Moon and Mars. The Moon, to be precise, imposes itself in the middle of this arrangement of planets. It will be seen airing between Saturn and Mars this evening, October 17th. Tomorrow evening, loyal to her way and a little “older” than the first quarter, she invites herself to the Red Planet. See how the second one shines energetically. Admittedly, not in the middle of summer, but its bright glow still penetrates the night.

There is also Neptune, further east, in Aquarius. But to distinguish it, it is better to arm yourself with a pair of binoculars or of course a telescope or telescope. Item Pour Uranus, Another distant planet coming out of the horizon these days when others are drowning in it. We add that too PlutonConsidered a dwarf planet, it also glows dimly between Saturn and Mars.

Comets to observe in the autumn sky

Finally, remember that Comet 21P / Geocobini-Sinner Its flight continues. She is now in a glowing environment SiriusIn the great Chian. One piece of advice: wait until the end of the night until you see it (on a device) high enough in the sky.

Also, do not miss out, especially in the next few weeks: 46P / Wirtanen. She was declared the “Comet of the Year”. Nothing less! On December 16, Virtanan became the tenth comet closest to Earth since the 1950s. At the time, many experts believed it would be visible to the naked eye. For the time being, she is still traveling discreetly in the depths of autumn night. Constellation Of the furnace. A beautiful view in sight.

Beautiful alignment of planets to observe until February 20th

Article by Xavier Dimmersman, published January 21, 2016

Note to all curiosities, especially those who wake up early: between January 20 and February 20, 2016, five planets will appear together at the end of the night for a month. Rarely does one need a tool to appreciate this. Planetary alignment. On some dates, the waning moon will shine with them.

StarCelestial body; asteris planetsWandering stars. “The word planet is derived Plastai“Wander back and forth, get lost” Written byAstronomer Daniel Kunt in his book Words from heaven (CNRS version). In the heavens of the earth, as our forefathers observed many millennia ago (in Babylon, China, and perhaps elsewhere before that …) we know a handful of these wandering stars, separated from the so-called “fixed” stars. Inn Constellations, By their dynamics. At the very least, with the naked eye, their movements can be seen in many cases, from one week to another. This is one of the ways to make a difference with others luminaires. We now know that these bright spots have a nature Body nature It is different from distant stars (the planets are the daughters of the stars, the “children of the sun”) and they all travel in the path of the ecliptic, through the twelve and thirteen constellations. Zodiac (Ophiuchus thirteenth), due to their orbit around the Sun.

Of the eight planets in the Solar System (perhaps even New According to the latest news, five can be observed without an instrument: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (as a reminder, they are associated with five of the seven days of the week). Regarding Uranus NeptuneTheir great distances from the earth always prevented them from distinguishing themselves with the naked eye.

A very rare situation: at the end of the night, between January 20 and February 20, 2016, these five wandering stars will appear together. Of course, when Mercury rises (it’s near the southeastern horizon), about an hour before the sun’s first rays, we can only admire all these planets, which are deployed in the south – east sky. And west and south-west.

The time when the planets come into alignment

Of course, to make the most of this relatively rare sight (which last happened between December 15, 2004 and January 15, 2005), it is best to distance yourself from it. Light pollution This is because it adversely affects the brightness of the stars, and it indicates if each of these stars has an instrument. Using a simple pair of binoculars, for example, you can distinguish the phases of Venus or the four Galilean moons (discovered) of Jupiter. Galileo).

Opening the ball is the second. Right now, the giant planet is rising from the eastern horizon just before 10pm (Metropolitan France time), giving many people a view.Astronomers Brave lovers of winter cold with its striped equatorial bands Transportation Therefore Red spot And, of course, the ballet of its moons (visible on binoculars). Four hours later, just before 2 p.m. Tuesday Red joins her. At 4:45 a.m., it’s Saturn’s turn to enter the arena after Venus (approximately 6 p.m.). Finally, when Mercury appears in the light of dawn, the five main characters reunite.

Note that the waning moon will alternate between these planets until February 6. Gibbs first with Jupiter on January 27th and 28th, and then it passes on January 30th. Spica (The brightest star in Virgo), it appears in the last quarter of Mars on February 1, and two days later on February 3 it shines near Saturn. Finally, on February 5th and 6th, a beautiful, lunar crescent moon will appear in the morning, not far from Venus and Mercury. We can add that the most knowledgeable people will definitely take advantage of this to observe a small body in the solar system: Comet C / 2013 US10 (Catalina). At the beginning of this new year, due to its activity, it is almost visible to the naked eye, continuing its journey to the boundaries of the Solar System through the star-shaped constellations. Giraffe And Little Dipper.

To return to this meeting of the five planets at the end of the night, find out the reasons Weather forecast Or if not available, you can not appreciate them, they can approach you this summer with a new deployment of five planets, this time at the beginning of the night, between August 13th and 19th. At the same time, many curious people will observe the last breathAnnual Rain of shooting stars Perseids.

For those who do not already have it, remember that you can imitate the sky and the sky Movement Your planets Computer (Mac OS, Windows or Linux) With Software Sow birth Stellarium. As well as through numerous applications Smartphones (IOS Etc. Android), In which we presented a Election Last summer.