During the last third of this June, astronomers seem to be on a date with a wonderful alignment of 5 planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury - in the night sky, joined by the waning crescent;
Tomorrow, Friday, June 24, which makes the scene wonderful.
The planets shine in the night sky like stars, and they do so for a simple reason;
It is that they reflect sunlight back to the earth, and we see it.
And it does just as the moon that we see shining in the sky does.
How do I monitor the phenomenon?
The astronomical phenomenon of the alignment of the planets does not need any tools to observe it, but only your naked eyes, as you can climb to the top of your house or the building in which you live at dawn tomorrow, June 24, and the scene improves as we approach the sunrise.
The presence of the crescent makes it easy for non-specialists to observe astronomical phenomena, so all that is required of you is to search for it in the sky, and you will find it close to the horizon, and on its right up to 3 bright points of light, and on its left and down are two bright points, and the six bodies together make a beautiful arc of light. the light.
The map introduces you to the locations of the planets in the sky at dawn tomorrow, Friday, June 24 (Stellarium software)
5 points of light
The highest of these bodies is the planet Saturn, and can be distinguished in the night sky;
Where its color tends to yellow, while Jupiter - which is next in order by lining up from the top to the bottom - is brighter, and tends to white like a small shining lamp.
As for the planet Mars, it appears in the night sky in a clear red color, so you will know it easily.
And Venus will also be the brightest object in the entire sky at that time, as it will appear as a large shining lamp, so it is also easy to recognize it.
On the other hand, the planet Mercury, which tends to be red, will be your most difficult target in this phenomenon, as it will be very close to the horizon, so it needs a high place and an open horizon in order to be able to monitor it, and you also need to be a little patient, as the planet is gaining altitude in The sky as the sunrise approaches.
Within days of this rare beautiful scene, and with the beginning of next July, Mercury will end its short cycle in the sky and descend below the horizon, leaving the remaining four planets decorating the dawn sky, and then Venus will leave this team by next September.
It is interesting to follow such astronomical phenomena, and it helps in particular to spark children's passion for astronomy, and science in general.