By In February, Sri Lanka’s sky watchers will be treated to a special event: the chance to see up to seven planets at once! Even the moon will join the cosmic show in the first week of the month.
At different times in February, you can see five planets with the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. These planets will be bright enough to spot even in cities with light pollution. Venus will shine the brightest, while Mercury will be the faintest and hardest to see.
Uranus and Neptune will also be part of the event, but they are more difficult to spot. You’ll need binoculars to see them, and they will look like small, fuzzy greenish-blue dots. If you have a small telescope, you’ll be able to see them more clearly as tiny disks.
The planets and the moon will all appear in a line across the sky, following a path called the ecliptic. While it’s common to see planets in the sky, this particular alignment with so many planets close together is a rare and beautiful sight. However, the planets are not really close to each other in space; they are millions of miles apart.
To help you find the planets, use the moon as a guide. The moon will be near different planets each day. For example:
On January 31, the moon will be closest to Saturn.
On February 1, the moon will be near bright Venus and distant Neptune.
On February 5, the moon will point to the faint Uranus.
On February 6, the moon will join Jupiter, forming a beautiful line with the bright orange star Aldebaran.
So, keep an eye on the sky this February for an exciting celestial show!
