The solar system is all set to give a rare celestial show.
Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will all be visible from Earth when they appear in a diagonal row before dawn on Wednesday, Jan. 20.
It’s the first time the five bright planets, so called as they can usually be seen easily with the naked eye, have aligned in such a way in more than 10 years, reports EarthSky.org.
The phenomenon will continue every early morning until Feb. 20.
“Essentially a quirk of the universe,” Dr. Alan Duffy, a research fellow at Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, told Australian Geographic about the formation. And with the five planets on different yearly cycles, he added their alignment was “something well worth seeing.”
Jupiter will rise first, followed by the red-tinted Mars, golden-looking Saturn, brightest planet Venus and lastly Mercury. Exact timings will vary each day and depend on where you are located.
But don’t panic, there are a host of stargazing apps to help you figure out exactly where to look and which planet is which. Just hope it’s not cloudy.
The waning moon will also sweep past the planets from Jan. 27 to Feb. 6, according to the Coachella Valley Independent.
1 Comments:
Is this a "quirk of the universe," or an indication that we have a Creator God? From the first chapter in Genesis, God said, "and let them be for signs," when talking about the "lights in the firmament." (Genesis 1:14) Jesus also spoke about the signs in the heavens before his return to the earth. He said, "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." (Luke 21:25-26) The "sea and waves" are often symbolic of peoples and nations in the scriptures. Is the line-up of the 5 planets another warning sign that the Tribulation period is nearly upon us? In any case, let's do what we can today to make the world a better place!
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