In a rare astronomical event, every planet in the solar system was visible in the night sky simultaneously on Wednesday, December 28, 2022.
Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars were all seen in that order in the northern hemisphere with the naked eye, starting from the south-western horizon and moving east. Uranus, located between Mars and Jupiter, and Neptune, which is between Saturn and Jupiter, were seen with binoculars or a telescope until the end of the last year. All eight planets were set to reach conjunction – their closest point – on Thursday, December 29, 2022.
The last time all Solar System planets were visible in the sky simultaneously was in June 2022. All five planets visible to the naked eye were lined up in the sky in the same sequential order that they physically orbit the Sun – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn – an alignment the likes of which had not occurred in about 150 years, or since 1864, said astronomers.
Another significant event for astronomers is the Quadrantids meteor shower, which is expected to peak around January 3 and 4, 2023, and is known for producing blue meteors travelling at 40 km (25 miles) a second and occasional bright fireballs.
