In case you hadn't realised, we love a good astronomical occurrence. This year alone we've had a close encounter with an asteroid, witnessed a rare green comet whizz by and watched on as Venus and Jupiter overlapped in what's known as a 'planetary conjunction'. Oh, and there's also a solar eclipse happening next month.
And now (and yes, we mean right now!), Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus and Venus are lining up in a rare ‘planetary parade’, with their shiny formation visible to the naked eye for all of us in Melbourne and across Australia. Although the alignment was at its brightest on Tuesday, March 28, it will continue to be visible to all lucky stargazers tonight and into the next few days.
The phenomenon is the result of the planets coming very close to the sun, with the best time of day to see them being just after sunset. Make sure you look up quickly after the sun goes down though, as the planets will disappear beneath the horizon about about 30 minutes.
You will be able to see Mars and Venus clearly with your naked eye (these two planetary queens are always the brightest stars in the sky), but cheeky Uranus and Mercury will apparently pose a wee bit more of a challenge, and you'll definitely need a pair of binoculars on hand to spot them.
You should look to the northwestern bit of the sky to view this rare planetary parade, and you should expect to see Jupiter and Mercury at the bottom of the line nearest the most western point of the setting sun, followed up by Venus, Uranus, and then Mars, who will be the closest to the moon.
But wait! The celestial wonders don’t end there. Astronomers have also said that a cluster of extremely bright, young and hot stars (watch out) will be converging near the planetary line-up. The Pleiades, or Seven Sisters, are a set of brilliant blue stars that are said to look particularly stunning when observed through a simple pair of binoculars, or, if you’re feeling really jazzy, a telescope.
The planets will only align for so long, so we recommend that all you Melburnians and Southern Hemisphere-dwellers make sure you look up tonight and in the next couple of days before the cosmos straightens itself up, once again.
Look up! These are Melbourne's best stargazing spots.
Plus, these are the best observatories and planetariums in Victoria.
ICYMI: here's where you can see Aurora Australis in Melbourne.