On 3 June 2024, the world will witness a rare celestial event — a planetary alignment of six planets, which are Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Those in the south of Thailand might witness the phenomenon on 29 May. Those in the northern parts, closer to the borders with Myanmar and Laos, may get to see the event on 30 May.
Of course, skywatchers are incredibly excited about this 2024 astronomical event whose rarity depends on the number of planets involved in a single event such as the upcoming one.
To think of it, the Voyager 2 mission of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was able to explore the outer reaches of the solar system in a fuel-efficient manner because of a rare planetary alignment of four outer planets during the late 1970s and 1980s. That kind of alignment happens once in 175 years, indicating how significant such a celestial phenomenon is to both science and human curiosity.
But what about the upcoming rare celestial event? Where can we see it and when? Above all, how do they even happen and will there be more?
Everything about the rare celestial event of six planets in 2024
What is planetary alignment?
Simply put, a planetary alignment is, as the name suggests, when two or more planets appear in the same line from Earth. In the language of astronomers, it is also called a conjunction. All the planets that are part of the alignment can be seen at the same time from certain points from Earth.
The astronomical event happens when the orbits of several of the planets of the solar system bring them on the same side of the Sun in a line.
When one looks at a 2D diagram of a planetary alignment, the planets might appear to be lying on the same plane (a straight line) from Earth. But in reality, the planets are not positioned in such a manner. They are not lying one behind the other or next to each other; they are just visible across the Earth’s sky at the same time along a single line of sight.
How many types of alignments are there?
When three planets align, it is a mini-planetary alignment. A small planetary alignment is when four planets come together. A large alignment is composed of five or six planets. A great or full planetary alignment includes all the solar system planets and sometimes Pluto.
Since the June phenomenon will see an alignment of six planets, it is a large planetary alignment.
Why and how do planets align?
The answer to this is planetary motion.
Each planet orbits the Sun at different speeds and distances. At all times, one or the other planet skims past Earth’s night sky. An alignment happens when all their paths appear to cross when seen from Earth.
How frequent are planetary alignments?
Planetary alignments are frequent when the planets are few and rare as the numbers go up.
An alignment can be easily calculated using Earth’s time of revolution around the Sun as a base. For instance, Mercury takes 1/4 Earth years to complete one revolution of the Sun, and Venus takes 2/3 Earth years to do the same. Thus, Mercury and Venus can be seen from Earth every two years — the time when all three come on the same path.
Thus, the more the planets, the more difficult an alignment becomes. For all eight planets (including dwarf planet Pluto) to come together in the same line of sight from Earth means several years in mathematical terms.
Upcoming planetary parades comprising five or more planets:
28 August 2024 — six-planet parade
18 January 2025 — six-planet parade
28 February 2025 — seven-planet parade
29 August 2025 — six-planet parade
The 28 February 2025 planetary parade is special because it will feature seven planets in a line of sight from Earth. These planets are Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars.
Where to see the June 2024 planetary parade?
Though 3 June 2024 is when the rare celestial event with all six planets will be visible from most locations on Earth, it is not the only date for this planetary parade.
The planetary alignment will be visible from specific parts of the Northern and Southern Hemispheres on specific dates. But no matter the location, it is the morning hours when the planets will be best visible.
According to the astronomy platform Star Walk, these are the places where the six-planet parade can be seen before 3 June:
São Paulo, Brazil (Southern hemisphere): 27 May, 43-degree sky sector
Sydney, Australia (Southern hemisphere): 28 May, 59-degree sky sector;
Mexico (Northern Hemisphere): 29 May, 65-degree sky sector;
Abu Dhabi (Northern Hemisphere): 30 May, 68-degree sky sector;
Hong Kong (Northern Hemisphere): 30 May, 67-degree sky sector;
Athens (Northern Hemisphere): 2 June, 72-degree sky sector;
Tokyo (Northern Hemisphere): 2 June, 73-degree sky sector;
On 3 June, people in New York and many other parts of the world, especially Europe, will be able to see the celestial phenomenon.
How to see the planetary parade?
It is easier to write about how to spot the planets that are part of the celestial event of 2024 than actually be able to see them.
The entire phenomenon will vanish the moment the Sun is up. Thus, there is a very small window within which stargazers can catch all the planets.
It is best to be at a wide, flat expanse where the horizon is clearly visible. So, mountainous regions, forests or cities are not ideal. The best view of the horizon in Thailand would be at the coasts or out at sea, the latter of which could be a great option with a yacht charter.
Though some planets will be visible to the naked eye, it is best to use binoculars.
(Hero image: Courtesy of Alazar Kassahun/@alazar_k5/Unsplash; Featured image: Courtesy of Norbert Kowalczyk/@norbertkowalczyk/Unsplash)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– What is the biggest celestial event in history?
There is no single biggest celestial event in history. But some major events that had an impact on history include the 13th-century spotting of Halley’s Comet moving to the west by Genghis Khan, following which he went on his world conquest, the daylight brightness of the Great January Comet of 1910, and the lunar eclipse of 1917 which helped Lawrence of Arabia capture the city of Aqaba from the Ottomans in the night.
– What is the rarest sky phenomenon?
NASA states that the blue supermoons are the rarest sky phenomenon because they appear only once every 10 years.
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Written by
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
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