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Australian astronomers will attend a celestial feast over the next two weeks, with five planets in the evening sky, some of the best views of Mars in years and a total lunar eclipse.
Glen Nagle, of CSIRO Astronomy and Space Science, tells nine.com.au the coming winter nights offer great views of the busy night sky.
"There are beautiful, clear winter skies right now, people can just go out and look without needing telescopes or binoculars."
Astronomy fans with a view decent western and eastern horizons will be able to see the rare sight of five aligned planets.
"Mercury will be first in this alignment to the west, followed by Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars to the east," said Mr. Nagle.
To help identify them, he suggested using smartphone apps that can help navigate the night.
The speed at which planets such as Venus and Mercury revolve around the Sun makes planetary alignments an infrequent occurrence. 19659008] In the next few years, Saturn and Jupiter will depart and once that happens, it will take another 10 years for the five planets to meet again.
THE RED SKY OF THE NIGHT
When the full moon rises every month, the moon is "in opposition" – meaning that it is directly opposite to the sun – rising at sunset as the sun rises.
On July 27, the two The Moon and Mars are in opposition, and the event will help to bring closer dear Mars from Earth more than usual four days later.
"Mars will be closest to us – less than 60 million kilometers – on July 31," Nagle said.
It will also be another blood moon – turning a striking shade of deep red.
LUNAR ECLIPSE
The lunar eclipse in the early hours of July 28 will be visible across Australia, although the best views should be in the southeastern states
The Moon will begin to enter the Earth 's shadow from 4:24. ) before the total eclipse begins at 5:30 (AEST)
The lunar eclipse will also be longer than usual – at 1 hour and 43 minutes – only four minutes shorter than the maximum.
be the only state to catch the entire eclipse. It will begin with the moon high in the northwest and end with the low moon up to the western horizon.
With the moon eclipsed sitting on the horizon, the illusion of the Moon will be triggered.
"This is deceiving us, making us believe that the moon is bigger than usual, and that it offers an unobstructed view of the sunrise and sunset," said M Nagle. the eclipse, the vision is completely safe and no eye protection is required.
We only have a few weeks of clear skies left.
© Nine Digital Pty Ltd. 2018
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