Mark the date stargazers…….

It looks like the next few months are going to be a treat for stargazers, with several planetary alignments on the way in 2023. A planetary alignment can be one of two events. according to the astronomy app Star Walk. The first is an astronomical event whereby planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time, as seen from above the solar system.And the second is visual phenomenon, which involves the perspective from Earth as the planets appear close together in a small section of the sky.

On 28 March though, it will be a bumper night for fans of all things space, as Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars are all set to gather in a small 50-degree sector.

Star Walk recommends that people start observations soon after sunset using binoculars to see Jupiter on a magnitude of -2.1 and Mercury on a magnitude of -1.3 from the horizon. They will look like “two bright objects” in the constellation of Pisces.

Higher up in the sky in the Aries constellation, astronomy fans will see Venus with a magnitude of -4.0. With a magnitude of 5.8, Uranus will be a little bit harder to see (we’ll let you make your own jokes there), but should still be visible if you’re in a good location and have a strong set of binoculars.

Mars will be just as tricky to spot as it joins the alignment higher up near the first quarter Moon in the constellation of Gemini. You will still be able to spot all five of the planets a few days after 28 March as well, if you’ve got a telescope to hand.

If you miss it on March 28, there are still several planetary alignments visible from Earth in the coming months:

• April 11 – alignment of Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Mars
• April 24 – alignment of Mercury, Uranus, Venus and Mars
• May 29 – alignment of Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn
• June 17 – alignment of Mercury, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune and Saturn
• July 26 – alignment of Mercury, Venus and Mars
• August 24 – mini alignment of setting Mercury and Mars and rising Saturn