UK stargazers can see rare seven planet alignment from Friday

UK stargazers will be in 'seventh heavens' on Friday as a rare celestial event takes place. For the first time in 18 years, seven planets will be in alignment.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Uranus will form what astronomers often term a 'planetary parade'. The best time to look out for them will be about half an hour before sunrise from June 24 to June 27.

Five of the planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – will be visible to the naked eye on Friday. The remaining two – Uranus and Neptune – will be too dim to see unaided but you could spot them with binoculars or a telescope by around June 27.

Read more: Northumberland beauty spot named one of the best places to stargaze in the UK

The seven planets have not appeared in the same line across the horizon since December 2004. Astronomer and founder of Stargazing London, Tom Kerss, told the Sun newspaper: "It's well worth setting an early alarm and peering out from your garden, or any south/east-facing window or balcony available to you.

"The planets are easy to pick out even in the relatively light summer sky. Unlike stars, they don't appear to twinkle, and Mars is noticeably orange, whereas Saturn is faintly golden."

The NASA tweet about the celestial event (NASA - twitter)

Meanwhile the news brought the poet out in the twitter account of NASA in the US. It read: "Planets align. It’s fine. What is time? Does that even rhyme? Look up starting tonight to see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn spread out and appear to line up in the sky. The crescent moon joins them on June 23."

As Nasa points out, this alignment is even more special due to another sighting which is set to take place and the waning crescent Moon is set to be visible in between Venus and Mars. However, the moon won't appear in alignment with the planets.

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