Five planets visible together

During this month, all five planets will be observable simultaneously from Earth.

In March of this year, there will be a rare opportunity to view five planets in the sky, making it an excellent time for planet spotting. Starting from March 28, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars will come together in a section of the sky that is approximately 50 degrees wide. Stargazers are encouraged to look out for this display in the evenings.

Five planets visible together

The Star Walk app suggests that, from sunset onwards, two bright objects - Jupiter with a magnitude of -2.1 and Mercury with a magnitude of -1.3 - will be visible near the horizon in the Pisces constellation.

Venus, with a magnitude of -4.0, can be spotted in the constellation Aries, whereas strong binoculars are recommended for viewing Uranus, with a magnitude of 5.8, which is situated close to Venus.

Meanwhile, Mars will be located higher up in the sky, near the first quarter Moon in the Gemini constellation. Although March 28 is the optimal day to observe this rare planetary alignment, it will be visible for several days both before and after that date.

However, the visibility of this phenomenon may vary depending on your location, as noted by Rick Fienberg, a senior contributing editor for Sky & Telescope and senior advisor to the American Astronomical Society in a conversation with Fox 35.

According to him, in order to see Jupiter and Mercury, you need an unobstructed western horizon that is nearly flat and has a clear sky. This is because both planets will be close to the horizon and appear very low in the west right after the sun sets. Feinberg also pointed out that Venus will be the brightest in the sky, and Mars will be visible with its distinctive orange hue.

It will be challenging to observe Uranus unless advanced equipment is utilized. Additionally, there will be several planetary alignments in 2023, including smaller evening alignments on April 11, 24, and May 29 and a larger morning alignment on June 17, as per Star Walk. You can participate in our news democracy by clicking the upvote icon to boost this article's ranking on indy100.