Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Rare Planet Parade: How to See the Stunning Six-Planet Alignment This June!

Transcript

Rare Planet Parade: How to See the Stunning Six-Planet Alignment This June! · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody, welcome back to the Elon Musk Podcast.
• 0:05
  This is a show where we discuss the critical crossroads that
• 0:08
  shape SpaceX, Tesla X The Boring Company.
• 0:12
  And Neuralink. I'm your host, Will Walden next
• 0:16
  month. In June, sky watchers are
• 0:18
  eagerly awaiting a brief planetary alignment.
• 0:22
  However, recent astronomical analysis suggests the
• 0:25
  anticipated sky show may not meet expectations.
• 0:30
  Now, on the morning of June 3rd, 6 planets Jupiter, Mercury,
• 0:34
  Uranus, Mars, Neptune, and Saturn will all align along the
• 0:40
  elliptical path. Now, despite this alignment,
• 0:43
  experts caution that not all of these planets will be visible to
• 0:47
  the naked eye from Earth. Now, people who plan to rise
• 0:51
  early and step outside on June 3rd expecting to see the bloated
• 0:54
  disk of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn in a single glance will
• 0:57
  be at the very least, quite disappointed.
• 1:01
  Now this. Attention on social media about
• 1:03
  the Pareto planets surged after the planetarium app Starwalk
• 1:07
  published an article encouraging users to view the alignment
• 1:10
  using its Sky Tonight stargazing tool.
• 1:13
  I use the tool, it's absolutely wonderful.
• 1:16
  And NASA explains that the planetary alignment, known as a
• 1:19
  conjunction, will stretch across the vast sky of the northeast
• 1:23
  hemisphere. However, visibility will be
• 1:26
  limited without the aid of telescopes or high-powered
• 1:29
  binoculars. And if you're just getting into
• 1:32
  astronomy, I would suggest getting a pair of high-powered
• 1:35
  binoculars before investing in a high-powered telescope now.
• 1:39
  Star Walk's April 25th article noted that Mercury, Mars,
• 1:42
  Jupiter, and Saturn might be seen with the naked eye.
• 1:45
  However, Neptune and Uranus will require optical aid such as a
• 1:49
  telescope or high-powered binoculars due to their dimness
• 1:53
  and how far away they are from the Earth.
• 1:56
  Now the visibility is scheduled for June 3rd.
• 1:59
  Saturn's magnitude is 1.1, Neptune is 7.9 and late at night
• 2:04
  Mars magnitude is 1.1. Before dawn and at dawn Uranus
• 2:09
  magnitude of 5.8. Jupiter's magnitude is -2 and
• 2:15
  Mercury's magnitude is -1.4. They'll be very difficult to see
• 2:20
  Jupiter and Mercury now. Various factors will obstruct
• 2:23
  clear views of this alignment, and the proximity of Mercury and
• 2:26
  Jupiter to the Sun and their positions near the East NE
• 2:29
  horizon will likely be massed by the brilliant glow of morning
• 2:32
  twilight. However, those viewing from a
• 2:35
  flat, unobstructed horizon may spot both planets using
• 2:39
  binoculars, such as a beach or a flat area with no hills or
• 2:44
  mountains around you, or trees. Now for Uranus, views on June
• 2:48
  3rd will only be possible from very very dark, non light
• 2:51
  polluted skies according to experts right now, and similar
• 2:55
  to Mercury and Jupiter, Uranus is expected to rise just an hour
• 2:59
  before the sun, making it difficult to see due to the
• 3:03
  twilight. Now Neptune, which is the
• 3:06
  farthest planet from the sun, is way too dim to be seen without
• 3:09
  specialized equipment. No chance of seeing that planet
• 3:12
  either, unless you have access to a dark sky, a star chart, and
• 3:16
  at least a very good pair of binoculars or a decent
• 3:21
  telescope. A Saturn will be more visible
• 3:24
  rising from the East SE horizon around 2:00 AM.
• 3:28
  However, yellowish white tint will be faint and its rings will
• 3:32
  be invisible without a telescope and despite the limited views,
• 3:37
  Mars is expected around 4:00 AM. Eastern on June 3rd and you can
• 3:42
  view that with no equipment and Mars will shine with a
• 3:46
  relatively bright orange light. I suggest.
• 3:50
  Trying to see Mars every night if you can to get used to it
• 3:53
  before June 3rd. If you can see it in the sky, it
• 3:56
  has a a slight orange tint to it now.
• 3:59
  Additionally, the moon will be in its waning Crescent phase,
• 4:02
  which is the final phase of its monthly cycle, revealing a thin
• 4:05
  sliver which is good for viewing of the sky.
• 4:09
  If it's a full moon, it brightens up everything.
• 4:12
  It's more difficult to see things in the sky if the moon is
• 4:14
  full, but if it's a tiny sliver, it'll be much easier to see this
• 4:19
  planetary alignment, and early risers will see a lovely waning
• 4:22
  Crescent moon hanging low in the eastern sky.
• 4:26
  Now, planetary alignments along the elliptical path are not
• 4:28
  rare. The Northern Hemisphere last
• 4:31
  witnessed such an event on April 8th in 2023, and alignment
• 4:35
  involving Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Mars on March
• 4:39
  28th. You're learning that planetary
• 4:43
  alignments are rare, but honestly we get one every few
• 4:46
  years now. The future alignments are worth
• 4:50
  noting as well, and that's September 8th. 2040.
• 4:53
  A rare alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mars
• 4:57
  will offer better viewing opportunities.
• 4:59
  One of the notable planetary alignments occurred in the late
• 5:02
  1970s. The four gas giants Jupiter,
• 5:05
  Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all lined up, allowing the Voyager
• 5:09
  spacecraft to conduct flybys, returning remarkable images, and
• 5:13
  discovering new moons and rings. Now, on June 3rd, 2024, this is
• 5:17
  in a few days, the alignment won't be as historic, but will
• 5:21
  still be notable. The six planets will be visible
• 5:23
  in a 73° section of the sky, although they won't truly be in
• 5:27
  a straight line. Instead, they'll appear
• 5:29
  scattered at different paths, depths, positions and distances.
• 5:33
  Jupiter and Mercury will appear close near the horizon.
• 5:36
  Moving up to the northeast will be Uranus, Mars, Neptune, and
• 5:40
  finally Saturn. A Crescent moon will also be
• 5:43
  visible amidst the alignment. So look out for the Crescent
• 5:46
  moon. It's actually beautiful.
• 5:47
  If you have a pair of high-powered binoculars or a
• 5:50
  decent telescope, you can get some really great views.
• 5:53
  If it's a Crescent moon, you can see the craters and you can see
• 5:56
  if you look at the side of the moon, you can see the ridges.
• 5:59
  Absolutely spectacular. Now.
• 6:01
  Mars and Saturn will be the easiest to spot with the naked
• 6:03
  eye. Mercury and Jupiter will be less
• 6:06
  conspicuous in Uranus and Neptune will need high-powered
• 6:10
  binoculars or a telescope. The best viewing is about 20
• 6:13
  minutes before sunrise while looking to the eastern horizon.
• 6:17
  For instance, in New York on June 3rd that means about 5 O
• 6:21
  6:00 AM and Cape Canaveral where NASA is located 6 O 5:00 AM and
• 6:27
  Los Angeles at 5 O 2:00 AM. In other parts of the world the
• 6:32
  alignment will be visible before June 3rd in Sao Paulo, Brazil
• 6:35
  starts on May 27th, in Mexico May 29th and in Athens June 2nd
• 6:40
  and each location will have a narrow pre dawn window for
• 6:43
  viewing. Dark skies away from city lights
• 6:46
  will offer the best views. Modern light pollution makes
• 6:48
  truly dark skies rare but worthwhile for such celestial
• 6:51
  events. And despite this initial hype,
• 6:54
  the planetary alignment on June 3rd will require effort and some
• 6:57
  equipment for optimal viewing, especially for distant planets
• 7:01
  like Uranus and Neptune. But I will not stress it enough.
• 7:05
  At least go check it out if you can if you're up that early,
• 7:09
  because it's a sight to be seen. Hey, thank you so much for
• 7:21
  listening today. I really do appreciate your
• 7:23
  support. If you could take a second and
• 7:25
  hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast
• 7:28
  platform that you're listening on.
• 7:29
  Right. Now I greatly appreciate it, it
• 7:31
  helps out the show tremendously and you'll never miss an
• 7:34
  episode. And each episode is about 10
• 7:37
  minutes or less to get you caught up quickly.
• 7:39
  And please, if you want to support the show even more, go
• 7:43
  to patreon.com slash. Stage 0.
• 7:47
  And please take care of yourselves and each other, and
• 7:49
  I'll see you tomorrow.