ALIGNMENT OF THE PLANETS. Saturday June 17, 2023, the early morning will offer us a rare celestial spectacle. Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus and Mercury will line up in the sky. We tell you everything about this event not to be missed!
[Updated Jun 16, 2023 12:17 PM] A grand planetary alignment awaits us on Saturday, June 17 at dawn and will bring together five planets: Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter, Uranus, and Mercury. To admire the spectacle, you will have to get up early, about an hour before sunrise and face the eastern horizon. The alignment of these planets will be visible for about an hour, before the Sun appears behind the horizon and makes the sky too bright for star gazing.
This type of phenomenon generally remains visible for a few days provided you benefit from mild weather and choose a place where the horizon is clear. It will therefore be possible to enjoy it during the weekend and the beginning of next week.
To admire the grand alignment of planets, go about an hour before sunrise, around 5:30 a.m. Prefer a place where you will have a clear view because Mercury will be very low on the celestial vault. Scan the sky towards the east just above the horizon and you will see the various stars. Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury will be visible to the naked eye provided the weather is good and the sky clear of clouds. On the other hand, Uranus and Neptune, which are further away from us, can only be observed using a telescope or astronomical binoculars.
Looking at the horizon, you should first encounter the planet Mercury and then going up, you will be able to see Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune and then Saturn. All these planets will be located along an imaginary line. To locate the different stars, you can use an application like Sky Tonight (on App Store and Google Play) or Star Walk (on App Store and Google Play). The spectacle will be visible for about an hour, then the Sun will appear and its luminosity will gradually mask the planets, starting with Mercury.
A planetary alignment is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when multiple planets come together on one side of the Sun. This is an optical illusion since the planets are not actually aligned in three dimensions of space. On the other hand, as they all revolve around the Sun in the same plane called the ecliptic, these planets align in the terrestrial sky.
Observed from Earth, the planets line up in the sky when they are on the same side of the Sun so that they are visible in the Earth’s sky. We commonly observe up to three or even four planets aligned but it happens from time to time that they are more numerous to join the spectacle. We then speak of a grand planetary alignment or a complete grand planetary alignment if all the planets of the solar system are at the rendezvous.
It is extremely rare for all the planets in the solar system to line up in the sky. Indeed, for this it is necessary that all these stars are found on the same side of the Sun and are placed in such a way that they are visible from the Earth. This is called a complete grand planetary alignment. The last such alignment took place in June 2022 and the next one is scheduled for 2124. We’ll have to be patient!
While planetary alignment is an astronomical concept that refers to the fact that several planets group together on one side of the Sun, the term parade is a more familiar term to speak of the simultaneous presence of several planets in the Earth’s sky. Parry is therefore the consequence of planetary alignment. This is the spectacle observed from Earth.
Here are the dates of the next planetary alignments that you can admire from Earth in 2023:
