Parade of planets on June 24

The most spectacular planet parade of the year took place on the morning of June 24, reported from foreign media.

Observers saw five planets of the Solar System aligned in the sky: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In fact, this was a seven-planet alignment as Neptune and Uranus also joined the celestial show. However, these two giant planets were too dim to be spotted with the naked eye.

The planets extended from east to south (from north to east in the southern latitudes) across the sky. Observers from the Southern Hemisphere had a better view — the planets there rose earlier and climbed much higher.

An additional bonus was the waning crescent Moon, shining between Venus and Mars. It was slightly out of the "planetary line," travelling from planet to planet during the latter half of June.

A planet parade is a rare phenomenon where multiple planets are lined up in the sky from Earth's point of view. Friday's alignment featured all five of the "naked-eye planets" — planets that people could see in the sky without equipment such as a telescope - "arranged in their true order from the Sun."

www.anews.az