JACKSON, Wyo. — This week, two celestial phenomena will be happening in the sky as five planets visibly align and all 110 of Messier’s brightest fuzzy spots are viewable in one night.
Despite the extended snow forecasted to start tonight, a clear break in the cloud coverage would give stargazers the chance see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Mercury and Uranus appearing aligned in the night sky.
According to Samuel Singer, founder and executive director of Wyoming Stargazing, while the planets will appear close to each other in the sky they’re in fact not close to each other at all. In the planetary conjunction, Jupiter appears next to Mercury and Venus next to Uranus, but each of those pairs are actually very far away from each other in orbit.
“It’s fun that those planets are so far apart from each other in space and they look so close to each other from our perspective in the sky,” Singer says of the alignment aesthetic.
It’s unlikely to see all five planets with the naked eye unless standing in a really dark location. While Jupiter and Venus are two of the brightest points in the sky and Mars has an obvious orange glow, Mercury is very faint and close to the horizon and Uranus is incredibly far away. Mercury is also positioned to set within half an hour of sunset.
Singer suggests that viewers in Grand Teton National Park may be able to see all five with the naked eye, but those close to downtown Jackson should use binoculars.
The planets will change position over the course of the week, with Jupiter getting closer to the horizon each day but Mercury ascending in retrograde motion so it could get easier to see. While the moon was in a similar part of the sky last night, by the end of the week it will no longer be part of the conjunction.
In addition to the alignment, over the past two weeks the Messier Marathon has been happening above the valley. The Messier Marathon refers to a period of time when all 110 of the brightest fuzzy spots that French astronomer Charles Messier catalogued while searching for comets can be seen in one night. The fuzzy spots include galaxies, nebulae and star clusters.
“Other times of the year, you can’t see it like this, as objects spread out over the entire sky,” Singer says. “All you need is a pair of binoculars.” The Messier Marathon opportunity will still be possible the next few nights, contingent on the weather.
Wyoming Stargazing holds public stargazing every clear Thursday night at the Stilson Transit Center.
