When do planets line up

Well, yes! And no. The Sun is indeed exploding - in fact it is Recently there have been many sightings, here in Aotearoa and around the world, of strange lights in the sky Are they UFOs or something more easily explained? These sightings have been Stardome Shows Blade Runner. Alignment is therefore an artifact of a viewpoint and not something fundamental about the planets themselves. The book Bad Astronomy by Philip C.

Plait states,. However, the planets' orbits don't all exist perfectly in the same plane. They're all tilted a little, so that planets don't all fall exactly along a line in the sky. Sometimes a planet is a little above the plane, and sometimes a little below For this reason, surprisingly, it's actually rather rare for more than two planets to be near each other in the sky at the same time.

Even if the planets did all align in a perfectly straight line, it would have negligible effects on the earth.

Fictional and pseudo-science authors like to claim that a planetary alignment would mean that all of the gravitational fields of the planets add together to make something massive that interferes with life on earth.

In truth, the gravitational pulls of the planets on the earth are so weak that they have no significant effect on earth life. There are only two solar system objects with enough gravity to significantly affect earth: the moon and the sun. The sun's gravity is strong because the sun is so massive. The moon's gravitational effect on the earth is strong because the moon is so close. You can check out our guide to lunar eclipses for more information..

If you're eager to see the next total eclipse, when the moon turns red, the "blood moon," will occur May , and it will be visible from North and South America, Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia. Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter howellspace. Follow us on Twitter Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community space.

Elizabeth Howell is a contributing writer for Space. She is the author or co-author of several books on space exploration. The diagram is correct for July 9. Constant Contact Use. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact. Comments feelie75 September 5, at pm Finally, a real answer!

Larry McNish December 26, at pm Uh