Throughout June, Earth’s skies will witness a great cosmic homecoming. From June 17 to June 27, skywatchers will have a rare opportunity to observe all of our solar system’s major planets clustered together—along with the moon.
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are among the five planets visible with the naked eye in this unusual alignment. Each is visible even in the light-polluted city sky, with dazzling Venus being the brightest and Mercury being the faintest. Our nearest planets will emerge in the sky in the same order as their distance from the sun.
This planetary near encounters are referred to as conjunctions by astronomers. Two or three planets meeting is very uncommon, but the last time we observed conjunction amongst the five brightest planets was in December 2004.
Uranus and Neptune, which are farther distant, will also cluster in the same location, though the two ice giants will be more difficult to identify, necessitating the use of binoculars. Green-tinged Uranus may be observed in the sky between Venus and Mars, and blue Neptune can be found between Jupiter and Saturn.
The great majority of the world’s population will be able to see this planetary alignment, although some will be better positioned than others. Mercury, the planet nearest to the sun, will be near the horizon and may be wiped out by the brightness of dawn for people in northern latitudes, above cities such as New York and London. The other planets will likewise hug the eastern horizon in similar places, making it difficult to view all of them.
The view will be especially stunning since the planets will seem packed together. If you miss this spectacular, you’ll have to wait until 2040 to see it again.
