This photo of stars and planets was taken with night mode with the camera on a phone in Kamloops on Feb. 27, 2025.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/Tina Stoddart
February 28, 2025 - 6:00 PM
Another planet is joining a planet parade that began appearing a month ago in a rare celestial event that won’t happen again for another 15 years.
And the added bonus? Skies will be clear for viewing the rare celestial event in Kamloops and the Okanagan.
Six planets formed an arc on Jan. 10 and four planets were visible to the naked eye.
Tonight, Feb. 28, a seventh planet, Mercury joins the parade for a few days before Saturn disappears in the glare of the sunset in early March, according to LiveScience.com.
Kamloops resident Tina Stoddart has been stargazing as long as she can remember, and has been watching the planetary alignment since it began forming in January.
“I just love the night sky, I have fond memories of watching the stars, meteors and sky with my father,” she told iNFOnews.ca. “It’s so magical and enlivens a sense of wonder. We’re all part of something bigger.”
The seven aligned planets are Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, and now Mercury, but viewers will need a telescope to see Neptune and Uranus. The planets will start dropping out of view in March.
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The moon is in a new phase so will be dark, allowing for optimal viewing conditions. The best advice is to find a spot away from city light pollution, look to the south and scan the sky from east to west to find the planets.
Overnight skies are expected to be partly cloudy tonight, Friday, Feb. 28 and clear on Saturday night in Kamloops and the Okanagan.
If you get awesome planet parade photos, please send them to news@infonews.ca.
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