Published: Saturday, May 25, 2024
A night sky illustration for June 3, 2024, showing Saturn, Neptune and Mars in the early morning sky, along with Uranus, Mercury, Jupiter, and the moon.
(Image credit: TheSkyLive.com)
In my 22 years as the Night Sky Columnist for Space.com, I’ve enjoyed alerting readers about hoaxes and celestial falsehoods which are widely spread on the internet.
Even though I have tried to warn readers away from such fallacies I am still surprised at how many people accept them as facts. Some of the claims that have been widely spread online in recent years are pretty absurd. You would think, in this modern technological world of the 21st century, that few people would fall for such a trick.
In reality, and because most people today are driven by the mantra “If it is on social media, it must be real”, a surprising number of people get bamboozled into taking these promotions at their face value.
Unfortunately, many people then circulate these to their family members and friends.
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Previous celestial frauds
It was, of course the “Mars Hoax” that appeared every year in August for about a decade. Since August 2003 when the Red Planet came close to Earth, an online hoax has circulated claiming that Mars would appear to be the same size as a full moon on a particular night in August. It was a total lie, but every year, countless people believed that it would happen.
In 2015, an article widely circulated on the internet claimed that January 4, 2015 was the “Zero Gravity Day,” when people would be able experience weightlessness by jumping into the air in a certain moment. It’s interesting to see how many people tried to float that day.
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A fake news website reported, later in the same year, that the Earth will go dark at 3:45 am on November 30, 2015.
Here we go again
“Is it true?” or, in the case of the Mars Hoax, questions like: “Where and when can I see this?” In the case of the Mars Hoax I get questions from people asking “Is this true?
In that regard, I am getting a feeling of deja vu. Recently, an increasing number of people have contacted me about a supposed “rare event” allegedly known as the “Parade of Planets” that will be visible just before sunrise on 3rd June.
This claim is supported by a graphic which has been widely circulated, especially on Facebook. It has also been accompanied with comments such as:
It sounds like fun!
“This is what I’ve been waiting for”
“There have been a lot of astral phenomena recently,”
It’s time to experience something new.
These last two comments refer to the recent solar eclipse as well as the northern lights display.
Many people believe that another celestial spectacle will occur on the first of June.
It’s not.
Creator Unknown
Let’s first examine the ersatz image in question. It’s not clear who created it. It is just “out there”. The six planets are arranged in a diagonal upward line from the treescape silhouette (no direction is indicated). The planets have been shown through a microscope.
NEWS : In a rare event, six planets will align in a straight line on Monday (June 3) just before sunrise in the northern hemisphereMercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Mars, Neptune, Saturn will all be visible pic.twitter.com/1TQHFDTpJCMay 21, 2024
Unbeknownst to many, you cannot see Saturn’s rings or the planets as disks when using your naked eyes (as a proof, look at the Mars Hoax). The brighter planets are only visible as stars, which rarely twinkle.
People who are planning to get up early on June 3, expecting to see Saturn’s rings or Jupiter’s bloated disk in one glance, will at least be disappointed.
Where are they?
Even if you can see some of them, it will be difficult.
Mercury and Jupiter, for example will be close to the sun’s position in the sky. They will therefore likely be covered by the brilliant glow from the morning twilight. Binoculars may allow you to see these two worlds. However, in addition to trying them out against the early morning light, both of them will be very low on the east-northeast skyline. They will rise about half an hour before sunrise.
You can forget about seeing the smallest planet in the solar system (Mercury), next to the biggest planet (Jupiter) if you don’t have a flat horizon with no obstructions.
Uranus is next, and is only visible with the naked eye under dark skies without light pollution. It is actually close to the threshold for visibility, even for those who do not use an optical aid. To see an object that faint, it’s important to know where it is. A good star map can help. All this will be moot on June 3 since Uranus rises only an hour or so before sunrise. Morning twilight is already well advanced. There’s also no chance to see Uranus, just like Mercury or Jupiter.
Image of Uranus zoomed in by the James Webb Space Telescope, as seen on February 6, 2023. Image credit: NASA ESA CSA STScI J. DePasquale STScI. Early risers on Monday, June 3 will be able to see a beautiful crescent moon in the eastern sky. Around 4 am local daylight time a bright orange light will appear about half a dozen degrees to the right of it. That is Mars. At last! Finally!
Neptune is the planet that lies the furthest from the Sun, and it’s too faint to see without a telescope. It has an average distance of 2.8 billion mile. It is six times brighter than Uranus. There’s no way to see it unless you can access a dark night sky, have a star map and at least use binoculars, or a small telescope.
Saturn is the last object to be seen. It rises around 2 am in the east-southeast. Saturn is best seen as the eastern skies begin to brighten and Saturn appears high in the southeast. The rings of Saturn are not visible unless you use a telescope. To the naked eye, Saturn appears to be a bright light with a yellowish white tint.
You shouldn’t be surprised to see a parade of planets if you go outside around 4 or 5 a.m. Monday morning. You will probably see a crescent-shaped moon with an orange “star”, shining brightly to its right. This is Mars. Further to the right, you’ll find another “star”, glowing in a yellowish white hue.
Through a powerful telescope, a close-up view of Saturn in May 2024. (Image credit: Chris Vaughan/Starry night)
It is not “rare” in the slightest!
It is not true that the planets won’t be aligned. You won’t see Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune, but they are still there, and in a straight line.
This is because the orbital plane of all planets around the sun is more or less the same. This orbital plane, known on Earth as the ecliptic, is where all the planets seem to be traveling. It’s not uncommon to see several planets lined up along the ecliptic when viewed from Earth.
Next winter will be even better
If you’re looking for a spectacular planet lineup — with four bright planets and a beautiful crescent moon as an added bonus — next winter, make sure to look at the sky in the early evening, just after 6 pm on either January 31, 2025 or February 1.
The moon will be visible on that first night to the right of Saturn, and the next night to the left of the dazzling Venus. Jupiter, located in the southeast sky, will be awash with brilliant silvery light, amongst the stars of Taurus, the Bull. The Hyades, and Pleiades open star clusters will also be visible.
Mars will appear amber-colored, six times more bright than we see it now, in a triangle formed by the twin stars Pollux and Castor.
The “Parade of Planets”, which was so much hyped up on June 3, can be best described in one word: underwhelming.
Joe Rao is an instructor at New York’s Hayden Planetarium and a guest lecturer. He is a writer for Natural History magazine, Farmers’ Almanac, and other publications.