Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
The phenomenon of five aligned planets, namely Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Uranus, in the night sky of RI can be witnessed until Thursday (30/3).
“Until Thursday or Friday night tomorrow it can still be seen with the position of the Moon already in the north direction, so that it can still be seen for the 5 planets lined up along with the Moon, because the positions of Jupiter and Mercury are getting closer to the horizon,” said the researcher at the Research Center for Space Research. and National Innovation (BRIN) Andi Prince to CNNIndonesia.com, Wednesday (29/3).
After the end of March, Mercury will experience inferior conjunction (the position of the Sun, Earth, and planets aligned with the planet is at its closest point to Earth) in early April.
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO RESUME CONTENT
“The direction remains the same, stretching for about 60 degrees from west to north,” said Andi.
“For the time of observation after sunset according to each geography,” he added.
To enjoy the phenomenon of five parallel planets, Andi advises the public to find a location with a field of view free from obstructions and light pollution. In addition, the community must also ensure that the observation location has clear weather.
“The most ideal location is inland, rural, or on the coast where the sea is free from light pollution,” he explained.
Quoted from AP News, NASA astronomer Bill Cooke said the best observation time for this phenomenon is on Tuesday (28/3) night. People only need to look to the western sky after sunset.
The planets will stretch from the horizon line to about half of the night sky.
Cooke said Jupiter, Venus and Mars would be easy to see because they shine so brightly. Venus will be one of the brightest objects in the sky, and Mars will be near the Moon with a reddish glow.
Meanwhile, Mercury and Uranus may be harder to see, as they will be dimmer, so binoculars may be needed.
Different numbers and groups of planets line up in the sky from time to time. There were five planets that lined up last summer and one more this past June, in a slightly different order.
Cooke said the position of the planets like this occurs when the orbits of the planets line up on one side of the Sun from Earth’s point of view.
(Gambas:Video CNN)
(lom/arh)