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Stargazers spot incredible rare alignment of planets and moon in night sky
‘Bright and wondrous and rare’
Stargazers were struck by the alignment of the moon and planets when they looked up at the sky last night.
On Wednesday February 22nd, two planets could be clearly seen in the night sky as they all sat in a straight line shining very brightly. The alignment consisted of the moon, Jupiter and Venus and a perfect arrangement in the sky, which could be seen at night.
Similar scenes could also be seen last night with people taking to social media to ask what these bright stars were and starting off the hashtag #JupiterVenusMoon. One tweeter wrote: “Awesome alignment of the moon and Venus in the night sky over Manchester UK!”
A second put: “Astronomers! What are these things lining up wit the moon please?”
A third added:”If you’re under a clear sky in the UK right now, step outside and look westwards — Jupiter and Venus are glimmering in near-perfect alignment with the centre-point of the outer curve of a crescent moon. Bright and wondrous and rare.”
“Awesome view of the moon, Jupiter and Venus in the UK sky tonight. Fantastic alignment. Go outside now people and look,” exclaimed someone else.
The alignment even got a shout out from someone in Irlam.
Another person saw the trending hashtag, so went outside to take a look for himself.
UK Astronomy advised people to take a peak if the sky was clear in their area too.
The website EarthSky posted about the visible planets during the month of February. They said: “Venus, the brightest planet, is climbing higher in the west after sunset each night. And — wowser! — it’s moving closer to the second brightest planet, Jupiter, now descending into the sunset glare.
“Watch for these two bright worlds in the western twilight. By February’s end, they’ll be super noticeable…ready to dazzle you! Their conjunction will come in early March”.
As this month goes on, the moon will pass further from the planets but Jupiter and Venus will appear to move closer in alignment — which has been noticeable from the early evening. Have you seen this rare celestial wonder dazzling in the sky in your area?