You won’t want to miss this.
Our solar system’s planets are aligning in a seven-strong planetary parade this week that is set to be visible in Irish and UK night skies tonight (Friday, 28 February).
The celestial event is set to be an extension of the already impressive six planets that aligned last month with the closest planet to the sun, Mercury, set to join the party.
This will lead to a full house of Solar System planets being on display at the same time – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
The official astronomical term is planetary alignment, which describes the event when several planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time.
You won’t want to miss this rare phenomenon as it is not due to happen again until 2040.
Five of these planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) will be easily visible to the naked eye. You’ll need a telescope or high-powered binoculars to see Neptune and Uranus.
Six of the planets have been on display throughout January and February, while to catch all seven you may only have one evening for the occasion.
Weather permitting, Friday 28 February just after sunset (currently scheduled for Ireland at 6.02pm) is said to be the best time to catch the historic glimpse, with such alignments rarely happening due to the planets’ varying orbits.
The planets are all different sizes and are different distances from the sun meaning that the time it takes for them to rotate around the Sun differs for each planet.
While Earth takes 365 days, Neptune takes 60,190 days, while Mars takes 687 days, which is why it is rare to get them all in a planetary parade.
Mike Wilmot, a travel expert on behalf of Verdant Leisure, has curated a list of the best destinations across the UK to experience the event.
Top of the list is Northumberland National Park and Kielder Water & Forest Park. Deemed as one of the darkest areas of England, it’s no surprise that Northumberland National Park and their partners, Kielder Water & Forest Park, have been crowned as a gold-tier international dark sky park.
Exmoor National Park, North Devon was designated an international dark sky reserve in 2011 and makes it the second best place to view the event from tonight while the Brecon Beacons in Wales come in third.
South Downs National Park is fourth on the list while Snowdonia, with its undisturbed landscape sees little to no light pollution making it perfect for star-gazing.
Rounding out the list are North York Moors National Park and the Yorkshire Dales National Park.
In terms of seeing the planets in Ireland, Alan O’Reilly of Carlow Weather has said the best time is “just after sunset”, but also warned: “Sadly a lot of high cloud is likely Friday night.”
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