Five planets are to line up across the night sky in a rare display that will be visible at the end of March. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will all be visible in a line across the sky shortly after sunset on March 28.
Huge Jupiter will be easy to see as will the bright Venus and our nearest neighbour Mars. Mercy and Uranus will be visible with a telescope or binoculars under ideal conditions.
Beth Biller, from the University of Edinburgh, told Mail Online: “Venus and Jupiter are both very bright and easy to pick out and you may have already seen them close together over the past few weeks.
“Mars is a bit fainter, but still easily observed with the naked eye. Mercury starts getting tricky - you need to be at a dark site with a clear view of the horizon if you want to see Mercury.
“Uranus is the faintest and hardest to see - you'll need binoculars or a telescope to see Uranus.”
The last similar display was in 2020 and before that in 2016 and 2005.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted: “Don’t forget to look to the sky the end of the month for the planetary alignment which will have at least five planets – plus the moon – all visible in almost an arc shape as seen from Earth.”
The display will be visible at times between March 25 and March 30. The planets rise at different times but between an hour after sunset and close to 7pm is a good time. To see all the planets you will need to be in a dark location with a clear view and a pair of binoculars.
An app showing the locations of stars and planets will help you identify what you are looking at.
