Four planets are visible at the same time this month creating a 'planetary parade'.
The planets Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are visible simultaneously in the night sky in January.
Those celestial bodies that may be seen at night, brighter than the stars, may actually be planets.
"In January, you'll have the chance to see four bright planets in a breathtaking view," said Preston Dietz of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
He noted that such phenomena are not rare, but said that they do not happen every year, so they are worth observing.
According to NASA, Venus and Saturn will be just two fingers apart in the sky (about 2 degrees) with their closest distance observed from Earth on January 17th and 18th.
Throughout the month, four planets will be visible. In the first two hours after dark, you'll find Venus and Saturn in the southwest, Jupiter high up, and Mars in the east. Uranus and Neptune are also there, but a telescope is needed to observe them.
“The planets always appear along a line in the sky, so the 'alignment' is not special. What's less common is to see four or five bright planets at once, which doesn't happen every year," it says.
Moreover, throughout the month, Mars, the Red Planet, is directly opposite the Sun from Earth and shines brightly all night long with a reddish hue. It is located in the east as night falls and in the southwest at dawn.
This phenomenon occurs approximately every two years. This year's Mars opposition isn't the most spectacular, but the planet is closer to Earth than average and provides an excellent opportunity to observe it.
On this planet, NASA currently has five missions underway, preparing the ground for humanity's big step, the mission of the first humans to Mars around the end of the next decade.
Source: KYPE
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