UAE: 5 planets to line up in cosmic spectacle on March 28

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Heads up, UAE sky watchers! A large planetary alignment is happening on March 28, as five planets, including Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus and Mars are expected to line up together in a small section of the sky shortly after sunset.

Among the five planets, Venus is expected to be the brightest while Mercury and Jupiter will be noticeable near the horizon and Uranus can be the toughest to spot.

The planetary objects will not exactly form a literal straight line but they will be visible (plus the moon) in almost an arc shape as seen from Earth.

What’s more exciting, according to astronomers, is that this planetary alignment can be observed even without any special equipment. Binoculars, however, will be needed to spot Uranus.

The celestial spectacle happening on March 28 is called large planetary alignment, when 5 to 6 planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time. The last time the phenomenon took place was in June 2022.

If you miss it on March 28, there are still several planetary alignments visible from Earth in the coming months: