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otter111a t1_j2430qf wrote

Reply to comment by olearygreen in Every planet in the solar system visible in rare "planet parade" by scot816

I’m no expert. I just read this in an article.

Here’s a map.

https://www.theplanetstoday.com

Let’s logic this out. Right now and for quite a few years Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus will all be on the same side of the sun. Mercury would join them very frequently.

So really the problem becomes one of Venus and mars joining them on that side of the sun or at some apparent angle that it looks like they’re all grouped up from earth’s perspective.

Mars’ orbital period of 687 days would put it on that side every other year but then it would also linger there for an extended period. Venus would saunter into view and eventually Mercury would zip over.

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olearygreen t1_j246igz wrote

Awesome. This makes sense. I read it as it’s fairly frequent now because the outer planets are all on the other side hanging out, which is lucky but not frequent in galactic terms.

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sanjosanjo t1_j24c8ml wrote

The article says it happened six months ago, so that was probably when Mars was at the other end of this alignment.

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smurficus103 t1_j2549t0 wrote

The issue is Jupiter has a period of 12 years and saturn 29 years. They can be on opposite ends of the sky for quite a while, one visible in winter and one visible in summer

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