Planetary alignment June 2024

For the past few weeks, people visiting SSC have asked: "Can we see the planetary conjunction on June 3rd and 4th?" We're here to tell you...lower your expectations. Our astronomers stargaze 200-300 nights of every year, and are extremely familiar with what is and isn't visible. So while news stations hype up yet another planetary alignment, go into this not expecting very much. Sure, the Moon and Mars will be cool to see next to each other, but that will be the only major spectacle. Saturn will be high in the sky, far away from Mars. Uranus isn't visible to the naked eye under any light pollution, and Neptune is NEVER visible to the naked eye (it literally took the mathematics of gravity to discover Neptune). As for Jupiter and Mercury, you likely won't see Mercury. There is a small chance Jupiter will be visible for a few minutes, but once the glow of the Sun really crests the horizon, it will quickly wash out Jupiter. When it comes down to it, we don't recommend prioritizing this alignment. The last "good" alignment was that of June 23rd and 24th of 2022, when all five bright planets and the Moon lined up in the sky. That one was spectacular, and worth waking up for. But from Earth's perspective, there hasn't been an alignment like that in the time since, despite the media's inexperienced attempts to hype up others. When it comes to it, you can follow us for information and updates about night sky events, or ask astronomers who do a lot of visual observing and will therefore have intimate knowledge of the night sky on a day-to-day basis. Follow our socials! Website: www.sidewalksciencecenter.org Facebook: www.facebook.com/sidewalksciencecenter Instagram: www.instagram.com/sidewalksciencecenter TikTok: @Sidewalk_Science_Center Make a tax-deductible donation to support our outreach programs: www.sidewalksciencecenter.org/donate www.donorbox.org/ssc-2024