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Date Published: 27/08/2024

Witness incredibly rare alignment of 6 planets from Spain this week

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Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn, separated by millions of kilometres, will be seen together from Spain

Witness incredibly rare alignment of 6 planets from Spain this week

August is shaping up to be quite a month for keen stargazers. First we had the Perseids, a meteor shower that dazzled with dozens of shooting stars. Then came the rare Blue Moon, the brightest and largest supermoon of the year, on August 19.

Next up is a rather unique planetary alignment, or conjunction, on Wednesday August 28, when Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Saturn will appear in a neat row in the early morning sky, despite being millions of kilometres apart.

It’s actually an optical illusion, but the planets will look like they’re all parading one after the other, a celestial event that won’t be repeated in this order for a decade.

In astrology terms, a conjunction happens when celestial objects appear close together in the sky, sharing the same position in either right ascension or ecliptic longitude, which are like the longitude lines we use on Earth but projected onto the sky.

Even though these planets are incredibly far apart in space, they seem close to each other when viewed from Earth due to the way we see them from our perspective.

Planetary alignments come in different types based on the number of planets involved:

Mini planetary alignment: 3 planets
Small planetary alignment: 4 planets
Major planetary alignment: 5 or 6 planets
Great planetary alignment: all the planets in the Solar System.

These alignments happen because the planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane, but the different speeds at which they orbit make these alignments rare.

This year, we've already seen four planetary alignments:

January 27: Venus, Mars and Mercury
April 4: Venus, Neptune, Saturn and Mars
April 20: Venus, Mercury, Neptune, Mars and Saturn
June 7: Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn, forming a large planetary alignment.

On August 14, there was a simpler conjunction of Mars and Jupiter.

When will we see this planetary alignment in Spain?

In this upcoming planetary alignment, six planets will be visible to the naked eye, though you’ll need a telescope or high-powered binoculars to properly observe Neptune and Uranus. Mercury, being close to the horizon, may be hard to spot as well.

Here's what to expect:

Saturn: It will be visible in the constellation Aquarius from late Tuesday afternoon, August 27, easily seen without any special equipment. By Wednesday morning, August 28, it will start moving toward the western horizon.
Neptune: Also visible on Tuesday, it will be located in the constellation Pisces.
Uranus: As night falls, Uranus will appear in the constellation Taurus.
Jupiter and Mars: These two will also be visible to the naked eye in Taurus.
Mercury: Early in the morning, Mercury will appear in the constellation Leo, but it won’t be visible for long before the Sun rises.

For the best chance of seeing this phenomenon, find a location with a clear view of the eastern horizon, and try to arrive at least an hour before sunrise to give your eyes a chance to adjust.

Remember, planets don’t twinkle like stars do. Venus, the brightest after the Moon, is easy to spot, but other planets are dimmer and steadier in their glow.

Also of interest: The comet of the century will soon be visible from Spain

Image: Mario Picazo on X

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