Western sky hosts rare party of planets

However, earthlings will not be able to catch more than a glimpse of the planetary party, since it occurs beyond the sun. The planetary conjunction occurs, not more than twice in a century, as a natural correlation of their respective distance and pace of revolution around the sun.

Says P Devadas, member of the Astronomical Society of India, the British Astronomical Association and the Planetary Society, USA: “All the planets orbit the Sun from west to east at different distances. Nearer the planet to the sun, faster it moves. The fast-moving earth overtakes Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and other farther planets.

“On May 8 and 10, the giant planets of Jupiter and Saturn will be placed directly behind the sun, 78 crore km and 143 crore km away respectively. Mars, too, moves in that part of the sky at a distance of 23 crore km from the sun. With Mercury and Venus also coming to occupy the same area of the sky, they form a rare alignment.”

He says it will be extremely difficult to view all the planets since they will be drowned in the sun’s glare. “If you are lucky to have extremely clear skies, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars might be visible very low on the western horizon after sunset. Pollution adds to the obstruction in the city skies.”

What will be the effect of this configuration on earth?

“All this fear of the alignment causing calamities stems from superstition. Since earth and other planets are under the gravitational pull of the sun and as the planetary perturbation on earth is very negligible, there will be no effect on earth or its inhabitants, especially when the alignment happens beyond the sun.”