TACOMA — Look up into the sky above Washington this month on a clear night, and you might see a rare celestial occurrence in the sky.
During January, a large planetary conjunction involving four planets — Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars — will be visible with the naked eye, according to NASA. You’ll also be able to see the Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaked on Wednesday.
The four planets will be most visible together starting Jan. 10, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. The night of Jan. 21 will be the best time to see them during the evening, according to Forbes.
Best lineup since June
The last time multiple planets lined up in a similar pattern was in June, when Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune aligned across the sky.
The planets of our solar system all move around the same orbital plane, according to National Geographic, so when several planets are on the same side of the sun as Earth, it looks as if they’re close together. In reality, the planets are many millions of miles apart.
Sometimes several planets can be on the same side of the sun as Earth but not align due to their orbital positions. Seeing four planets at once in the night sky is a fairly rare event, according to NASA, which has dubbed it a “planetary parade.”
That “parade” will become most visible after the sun sets starting Jan. 10, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. The four planets should be visible to the naked eye.
Venus and Saturn will be in the southwest, Jupiter will be overhead and Mars can be seen in the east. Uranus and Neptune will also be in the conjunction, but a telescope will be needed to see them, according to NASA.
