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19th Jan 2016

Look into the sky for the next month – the planets are about to align

JOE

We all have to become sky and stargazers for the next month.

Why? Because from January 20 to February 20, all five visible planets will sit in a line from the horizon to the moon for the first time since 2005.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will appear in a line, visible to the naked eye.

planets

Dr Alan Duffy, research fellow at Swinburne University in Melbourne, said that this reasonably rare alignment is “essentially a quirk” of the universe.

He said: “All the planets sit on a flat plane but have different yearly cycles – so for all five visible planets to happen to line up is “something well worth seeing.”

If you don’t see it first time, try again, astronomers promise we should all catch a glimpse.

If this doesn’t make us stick our phones in our pockets walking back from the train or bus at night, we don’t know what will.