Planets align in the sky tonight as Yorkshire stargazers thrilled to see rare 'big star' phenomenon

A long awaited astronomical event dubbed as the planet parade or planetary alignment when four planets are visible to the naked eye on the evening sky, Mars on left, Jupiter in the middle, Saturn and Venus on the right as they move along the ecliptic
-Credit:Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images


Across Yorkshire people have been reacting to the spectacular display in the skies as four planets are in alignment.

This week, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are aligned in the night sky above the Earth. This display, which is visible with the naked eye, appears to be a line, as the path is traced by the Sun.

Due to this, the planets shine brightly in the sky, prompting wonder from onlookers. In addition, with a telescope, Neptune and Uranus are also observable.

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This was first noticed last week, and it is believed that it will be easiest to observe this on Friday evening, at around 6.45pm. However, it is already observable in the sky, and has drawn some reaction from eagle-eyed planet spotters around Yorkshire.

One man wrote: "What is the big star shining in the sky in West direction. It looks very huge".

Others answered, saying: "It’s Venus and the orange one is Mars. Between them is Jupiter. You can download google Sky map and point your phone at the sky and it will tell you the names of everything."

Another person said: "You might find that it's a planet, they are all lined up currently(you can easily define Mars, by it's red hue, over in the South East) all reflecting the sunlight, makes them look like stars".

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Yet more people reacted, with one giving some detail of what he saw last weekend: "Six of the planets in our solar system are lined up to form an arc to be called a 'planetary parade'. Fortunately, the sky is clear tonight, so we can see Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars through naked eyes, Uranus and Neptune are also aligned but only visible though binoculars or telescope

"Venus and Saturn were captured at 6pm— in Leeds. Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune were captured at 7:30pm".