THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Celestial enthusiasts and stargazers are in for a treat in the coming weeks. Planetary parade, a cosmic wonder where a rare conjunction of seven planets – Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars – is about to grace the night skies putting on a spectacular show for amateur astronomy enthusiasts, sky watchers, and astro photographers in the state.
The Kerala State Science and Technology Museum and Priyadarsini Planetarium, amateur astronomy clubs across the state are gearing up to host events to offer the perfect opportunity for the public to experience the celestial wonder.
“Occasionally, the positions of the planets align on the same side of the Sun, creating a visual phenomenon where they appear close together in the sky. This is what we call a planetary parade. In fact, these planets are actually millions of kilometres apart, their arrangement along the ecliptic plane creates the illusion of alignment when viewed from Earth,” said V S Syam, secretary, Amateur Astronomers Organisation (AASTRO) Kerala.
He said that by February 2025, seven planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – will align in the sky. Uranus and Neptune need telescopes to be seen, he said.
The Priyadarsini Planetarium is already swarmed with visitors for watching the night skies. “We are already hosting shows and now we can see three planets and we will be organising more shows for the public on January 20-21,” said director Soju SS, Kerala State Science And Technology Museum and Priyadarsini Planetarium.
According to enthusiasts, the planets will be visible when there is a dark sky. N Sanu, an amateur enthusiast, said that witnessing so many planets at the same time is a very rare event.
“Many celestial events are lined up in the coming weeks. Sastra Sahithya Parishad is hosting watching events already for NSS students and more events will be organised in the coming weeks,” said N Sanu.