According to the Star Walk app, the planets will appear most closely grouped on 28 February, though the exact date depends on your location.
The best viewing dates include 25 February in São Paulo, 28 February in Athens, New York, Mexico City and Tokyo, 1 March in Beijing, Berlin, London and Mumbai, and 2 March in Reykjavik.
“A planetary alignment like this can be particularly exciting as it gives you the opportunity to see various worlds during one evening,” said Jess Lee, Royal Observatory Greenwich astronomer
Smethurst emphasises that a great stargazing experience isn’t just about what you look at, it’s also about how you prepare.
One key step is giving your eyes time to adjust to faint starlight. She suggests starting indoors: “I like waiting sort of in the warm of my kitchen for five or 10 minutes in the dark before I step out,” which allows for the “immediate reward of being able to spot even the faint things in the night sky straight away.”
Comfort is crucial too. Instead of straining your neck, she suggests “laying down a picnic blanket on the ground or sitting in some sort of lounge chair” and making sure if the weather is cold where you are to “wrap up warm because if you’re not moving, it gets very cold.”
And finally, once your eyes are adjusted, avoid bright lights. If you’re using a phone app to locate planets, enable the red light feature, because “the red light won’t affect your night vision as much as a bright white light would.”
And even if you miss the peak day of the parade, don’t worry, because some of the planets will still be hanging around
“We will have lost Mercury in early March, but on 7 March and 8 March, Venus and Saturn are going to be very close together on the sky, making it easier to spot both of them,” said Smethurst.
