Hi GAAC Group, Is anyone going out to observe this? If yes, what time, where? Are there any Rockport/Gloucester clubs getting together to see this? "A rare celestial event will take place on Friday, February 28, 2025, when seven planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune will align in the evening sky.” Thanks, Lynda 617.610.3943(c)

I hate to spoil the excitement, but this is kind of a non-event. You won't be able to see Uranus and Neptune naked eye, and the others will be spread out, dim, and difficult to see. They are all in the plane of the ecliptic, so these alignments are not all that rare, such as they are. MPD On Fri, Feb 28, 2025, 7:58 AM Lynda Goldberg <lyndagoldbergartist@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi GAAC Group, > > Is anyone going out to observe this? If yes, what time, where? Are there > any Rockport/Gloucester clubs getting together to see this? > > "*A rare celestial event will take place on Friday, February 28, 2025, > when seven planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and > Neptune will align in the evening sky.**”* > > Thanks, > Lynda > 617.610.3943(c) > > > > > astro@lists.gaac.us > https://gaac.us > http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage

           Rise Culm.

This has been a bit misrepresented in the press (happens a lot): checking with https://in-the-sky.org for Glocester tonight, here are the planet rise and set times (in 24 hour time - so 6pm is 18:00): Rise Culm. <https://in-the-sky.org/article.php?term=culmination> Set Mercury <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=23.668314&dec=-2.087848> 06:52 12:47 18:42 Venus <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=0.463922&dec=10.155791> 06:54 13:35 20:16 Mars <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=7.244611&dec=25.923448> 12:30 20:20 04:11 Jupiter <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=4.693762&dec=21.811395> 10:18 17:48 01:18 Saturn <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=23.452353&dec=-5.623420> 06:52 12:34 18:16 Uranus <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=3.395655&dec=18.361379> 09:16 16:30 23:45 Neptune <https://in-the-sky.org//skymap.php?day=28&month=2&year=2025&hour=17&min=21&ra=23.942434&dec=-1.750644> 07:07 13:03 19:00 Saturn and Neptune are barely in our 'night' sky right now - they were higher back in January. Mercury just joined the party to be above the horizon enough to be seen. Here is today's twilight times locally: Twilight ends <https://in-the-sky.org/article.php?term=twilight> Civil 17:58 Naut 18:31 Astr. 19:04 Twilight begins <https://in-the-sky.org/article.php?term=twilight> Astr. 04:43 Naut 05:16 Civil 05:49 Looking at the times, it would seen the best shot at being able to observe as many as possible at one time is right after sunset - say, after end of civilian twilight at 6pm (1800) - technically, everything will still be above the horizon (Saturn and Neptune and Mercury just barely in the West, with the rest spread over the sky. Honestly, not expecting that Saturn or Neptune are practically observable - just too close to sunset versus their brightness (this is why the cut/paste from 'in the sky' shows them in grey). Best of luck - not too optimistic with the weather, unfortunately. --Mike On Fri, Feb 28, 2025 at 7:57 AM Lynda Goldberg < lyndagoldbergartist@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi GAAC Group, > > Is anyone going out to observe this? If yes, what time, where? Are there > any Rockport/Gloucester clubs getting together to see this? > > "*A rare celestial event will take place on Friday, February 28, 2025, > when seven planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and > Neptune will align in the evening sky.**”* > > Thanks, > Lynda > 617.610.3943(c) > > > > > astro@lists.gaac.us > https://gaac.us > http://www.facebook.com/GAACpage