Five planets in alignment

Five planets in Alignment: Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus & Mercury

For the first time in a decade, Singaporeans will be able to view a rare astronomical sighting.  Five planets — Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury — will align in a straight line and will be seen together in the skies.

Astrological Phenomena

The Science Centre Singapore said the celestial conjunction will last from Wednesday 20th January until the end of February. 27th January will offer an extra special view as the Moon will also come into alignment with the five planets.

Usually, we see the five planets in the night sky at different times of the night. It is thus a special event to observe all five planets in the night sky at one time.

Mercury is also hard to view as the planet is close to the Sun and is faint due to Singapore's sky not being very dark. 

Best Times To View The Alignment

The best timing to see all five planets will be around 6am, especially when there is a high and unobstructed view to the eastern horizon.

Each night at around midnight, Jupiter will be the first planet that will come into view. Jupiter’s sighting will then be followed by Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury.

On 27th January, when the Moon comes into alignment with the five planets, Jupiter and Venus will be the brightest of the planets. Jupiter will be more or less directly overhead at 6.30am, and Venus on the eastern horizon. Jupiter and Venus can be used to locate the other planets. Mars will be halfway between Jupiter and Venus, and Saturn will be approximately halfway between Venus and Mars.

Another good opportunity to get the best view of the planets will be on the weekend just before Chinese New Year. This will be when Mercury, located near both the Moon and Venus, will be the easiest to spot.  These are on  6th February 6:30am and 7th February 6:30am

How to distinguish planets from stars

One easy tip to distinguish the planets from regular stars is to close one eye, stretch out your arm and slowly pass your thumb over a bright dot in the sky.  Jason Kendall, a member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York, told the New York Times. If the dot slowly dims out when your thumb passes over it, it’s a planet. If it quickly blinks out, it’s a distant star.

Saturn can be found above Venus. You can use your hand as a rough guide - hold your hand at arms' length, and spread your fingers apart as far as possible. You should see two points of light above your thumb. The right most one will appear reddish - this is the star Antares, in the constellation of Scorpius. Saturn is the brighter point on its left, and will appear cream-white.

Mars will appear overhead. The Moon will also be a good guide to finding this planet. You will also likely see the star Spica, in the constellation of Virgo. To tell the two apart, look at their colours - Mars is reddish and Spica is white. Both will appear equally bright.
 

Next Sighting

The Science Centre Singapore said the astronomical alignment is likely to happen again in August this year. According to the UK’s Royal Astrological Society, the five planets will then not be seen together again until October 2018.

 Photo: Science Centre Observatory Facebook