On March 28 2023, 5 Planets staged a rare arc like line formation on night sky. Saturn, Mars, Neptune, Jupiter and Venus made an arc like line formation. Uranus also appeared near Venus but it was so dim that it was not visible to the naked eye. Uranus could be seen through binoculars or telescope.
Saturn appeared as top most among the planets in the South-East sky. Mars followed by Saturn, appeared between Saturn and Neptune. Jupiter and Venus appeared with Neptune. Venus appeared as the brightest among the planets. Jupiter also appeared to be more brighter than Mercury. Waxing crescent moon was also visible along with planets.
This spectacular event was easily visible at the places where night sky was clear and had less light pollution.
Why planets appeared in a line formation on night sky?
According to NASA, the conjunction between the planet occurs frequently in the Solar system because, “The planets orbit around the Sun in approximately the same plane – the ecliptic plane – and thus trace similar paths across our sky”.
This kind of event was the first in once in approximately 18 years. Last time it was seen on December 2004. Such rare line formation on night is not expected to happen again until 2040.
