Planetary Parade | Five planets come in rare alignment along with Moon in night sky

Planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus aligned with the Moon forming an arc across Monday's evening sky, with some being clearly visible to the naked eye of humans.

Such an alignment is often termed "a planetary parade" and was visible to people after sunset in the west. Clear skies and a good view of the horizon gave people the best chance to see the alignment of planets.

Last summer, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury had come together in what was said to be a rare planetary conjunction. The best way to spot the planets in alignment on Monday was to travel away from the city's bright light to someplace with an unobstructed, clear view.

The planets needed to be spotted early in the evening because Jupiter and Mercury disappeared quickly over the horizon. People got some of the best views from Scotland's northern parts and its islands due to the clear skies.

Astronomer Royal for Scotland's Prof Catherine Heymans viewed the spectacle from Portobello beach in Edinburgh.

"Planet spotting on a crystal clear night along with so many other planetary parade enthusiasts was an absolute delight!" she said.

Royal Observatory Greenwich's astronomer Jake Foster said that such alignments of planets are very particular to the perspective we get from Earth.

"The planets aren't aligned right now, they are all spread out across the Solar System but just from our perspective, every once in a while they get close enough to each other in the sky that we're able to see quite a few at once," he added.

Anglesey, which is situated in north Wales, has some of Europe's darkest skies.

North Wales' dark skies officer Dani Robertson, speaking from Anglesey, said that evening was a visual treat even after a slight cloudy haze.

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"I'm in my back garden and I can see a very nice little crescent Moon, to the top left and just above it I can see Mars, which has a lovely red glow, and a bit lower towards the horizon there's a really bright light and that's Venus. If it were clearer, I could see all of it, the only one you wouldn't be able to see is Uranus, you'd need a telescope,” she said.

Kielder Observatory's Dan Pye from Hexham, near Scotland's border, said that looking at the planets in alignment gave us a perspective about where are we placed in the solar system.

"Over the course of the night, the distance between these objects shifts as the moon goes around us, we move a little further around the sun, and the planets continue their journeys around the sun. I think witnessing this helps you realise that connection we have to the cosmic ballet we have with other objects in just our very local space theatre,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

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