Stargazers will be in for a unique treat on Saturday morning as five planets will line up at dawn, with some being visible to the naked eye.
Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune, and Saturn will line up in the event known as a planetary parade. Jupiter and Saturn will be the easiest to spot without any specialist equipment, while Neptune and Uranus may require binoculars - Mercury may also be visible for a short period.
The alignment of planets is a rare event where the planets in the solar system are all roughly positioned in the same direction when viewed from Earth. It is understood that Saturn will be the first to rise, followed by Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury, Wales Online reports. Sunrise is due to be at 4.40am on Saturday so people will need to rise early to catch a glimpse.
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Don Pollacco, a professor at the University of Warwick’s Department of Physics, said: “While Jupiter and Saturn will be easy to spot by eye, Mercury will be more challenging as its proximity to the sun means that it is only just above the horizon and visible about an hour before sunrise. Neptune and Uranus need binoculars to be sure of seeing them – although some keen-sighted people can see Uranus unaided.
“Jupiter and Saturn will be bright objects that have a yellowy colour, Mercury often looks pink, and Uranus and Neptune pale white-green.”
He added: "Given that we understand the orbits of the planets, we can predict when these ‘alignments’ will occur. While the planets may look relatively close together in the sky they are of course separated by many millions of miles.”
The next five-planet alignment will take place on April 20 2024, which will be a morning parade with Venus, Mercury, Neptune, Mars, and Saturn.
