All eight planets ‘captured in photo for first time’ – and they will be visible again this week

[jemhouston]

At the risk of provoking people, I think Pluto should have been grandfathered in as a planet.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/seven-planets ... 47883.html

All eight planets ‘captured in photo for first time’ – and they will be visible again this week
Sarah Knapton
Wed, 26 February 2025 at 11:04 am GMT-6·3-min read
Josh Dury's panorama annotated with locations of Earth and all seven planets
The panorama was taken from Somerset’s Mendip Hills on Saturday by Josh Dury, an award-winning astronomical photographer - Josh Dury/SWNS

A photographer is thought to have become the first person to capture all seven planets and Earth in one picture.

The rare image was made possible because a “great planetary parade” is taking place this week for the first time since 1982 – when cameras were not advanced enough to capture them all.

The panorama was taken from Somerset’s Mendip Hills on Saturday by Josh Dury, 27, an award-winning astronomical photographer dubbed the “Starman”.

Mr Dury said: “It is made of nine images, revealing Saturn, Mercury and Neptune.

“They were very tricky to spot. I used multiple image analysis and astronomy apps to confirm their location.
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“As this was taken with a wide-angle lens, the nine images stitched to a panorama and a HDR blend of one of the frames to reveal Saturn, Neptune and Mercury. These three planets are not easy to see at all.”

The Royal Astronomical Society said that spacecraft, such as Voyager, had captured all the planets in the sky at once, but it was not aware of anyone taking such an image from Earth.
Why do the planets align and when will they next be visible?

Currently, specialised astronomical equipment is needed to see all the planets, but on Friday they will all become visible in the night sky.

Planetary alignments occur because the planets in the Solar System orbit the Sun within roughly the same plane – known as the ecliptic plane.

As they orbit at different speeds and distances from the Sun, there are moments when they appear to line up from Earth’s perspective.
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This alignment is a visual phenomenon rather than a physical one, because the planets remain “separated by millions or even billions of kilometres in space”, said Dr Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London.
Will you need a telescope to see the planets?

Stargazers will need no equipment to see Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, but binoculars or a telescope are necessary for Uranus and Neptune. Planets can be told apart from stars because they shine steadily, rather than twinkling.

Saturn will be the lowest planet on the Western horizon and the hardest to spot with the naked eye.

It sets shortly after the Sun, and there will only be a few minutes while the planet is above the horizon and the sky dark enough to see.

Mercury should be visible just above Saturn, and higher still will be Venus, which is the brightest in the sky.
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Jupiter will be in the east just above Rigel, the brightest star in the constellation of Orion. To the east of Jupiter, Mars will be visible.

Neptune and Uranus both appear between Jupiter and Venus, and resemble non-twinkling blue orbs. Experts recommend using an app to find them.


Josh Dury's panorama showing Earth and all seven planets
The photograph was captured with a wide-angle lens, with nine images stitched to a panorama - Josh Dury/SWNS

“The best time to see the planets in the UK is early in the evening just after sunset,”said Prof David Armstrong of the department of physics at the University of Warwick.

“You can see five of the planets with your own eyes: Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. Venus in particular is very bright, but Mars is noticeably red and Saturn yellow.

“With high-powered binoculars or a telescope, you might be able to see Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter’s moons or Saturn’s rings.”

He added: “This ‘great planetary alignment’ won’t happen again until 2040, as it needs all the planets to be on the same side of the Sun.”

Experts say the planetary alignment is best viewed in dark and cloudless skies looking at a horizon without buildings or trees, so the lower planets can be seen.

[gtg947h]

At the risk of provoking people, I think Pluto should have been grandfathered in as a planet.

Agreed

[Paul Nuttall]

I like how they decided they needed to label Earth.

[Belushi TD]

At the risk of provoking people, I think Pluto should have been grandfathered in as a planet.

Agreed

Back in the early 2010's, my daughter's preschool went to the local planetarium for a field trip. Being both naturally geeky and loving planetariums (you guys may have noticed this), I took the morning off work, and went with them as a chaperone, along with my wife. Being both naturally geeky and having an obnoxious streak a mile wide (you guys may have noticed this), I wore my "Bring Back Pluto" tshirt.

I have NEVER, in my entire life, seen an astronomer get so agitated and upset. He was actually yelling at me by the end of the argument. I think the final straw for him, after I gave him the line "Clear its local area, spherical under its own gravity, orbits the sun directly" thing, was that, in response to his question about Ceres, I told him I would have be happy with Ceres being considered a planet as well at which point I got to watch his brain break.

Belushi TD

[Craiglxviii]

Has no one listened to the Mondoshawans?!

[jemhouston]

At the risk of provoking people, I think Pluto should have been grandfathered in as a planet.

Agreed

Back in the early 2010's, my daughter's preschool went to the local planetarium for a field trip. Being both naturally geeky and loving planetariums (you guys may have noticed this), I took the morning off work, and went with them as a chaperone, along with my wife. Being both naturally geeky and having an obnoxious streak a mile wide (you guys may have noticed this), I wore my "Bring Back Pluto" tshirt.

I have NEVER, in my entire life, seen an astronomer get so agitated and upset. He was actually yelling at me by the end of the argument. I think the final straw for him, after I gave him the line "Clear its local area, spherical under its own gravity, orbits the sun directly" thing, was that, in response to his question about Ceres, I told him I would have be happy with Ceres being considered a planet as well at which point I got to watch his brain break.

Belushi TD

I always knew you were a person of intelligence, taste, and fortitude.

[David Newton]

At the risk of provoking people, I think Pluto should have been grandfathered in as a planet.

Agreed

Back in the early 2010's, my daughter's preschool went to the local planetarium for a field trip. Being both naturally geeky and loving planetariums (you guys may have noticed this), I took the morning off work, and went with them as a chaperone, along with my wife. Being both naturally geeky and having an obnoxious streak a mile wide (you guys may have noticed this), I wore my "Bring Back Pluto" tshirt.

I have NEVER, in my entire life, seen an astronomer get so agitated and upset. He was actually yelling at me by the end of the argument. I think the final straw for him, after I gave him the line "Clear its local area, spherical under its own gravity, orbits the sun directly" thing, was that, in response to his question about Ceres, I told him I would have be happy with Ceres being considered a planet as well at which point I got to watch his brain break.

Belushi TD

Pluto fails that definition, as does Ceres. Neither have cleared out their local area.

Now exoplanets also fail that definition because they orbit stars other than the sun, but amending it to directly orbiting a star directly rather than orbiting the sun directly deals with that issue.

[Paul Nuttall]

Mhh, the Telegraph print version doesn't have Earth labelled.

[Belushi TD]

Agreed

Back in the early 2010's, my daughter's preschool went to the local planetarium for a field trip. Being both naturally geeky and loving planetariums (you guys may have noticed this), I took the morning off work, and went with them as a chaperone, along with my wife. Being both naturally geeky and having an obnoxious streak a mile wide (you guys may have noticed this), I wore my "Bring Back Pluto" tshirt.

I have NEVER, in my entire life, seen an astronomer get so agitated and upset. He was actually yelling at me by the end of the argument. I think the final straw for him, after I gave him the line "Clear its local area, spherical under its own gravity, orbits the sun directly" thing, was that, in response to his question about Ceres, I told him I would have be happy with Ceres being considered a planet as well at which point I got to watch his brain break.

Belushi TD

Pluto fails that definition, as does Ceres. Neither have cleared out their local area.

Now exoplanets also fail that definition because they orbit stars other than the sun, but amending it to directly orbiting a star directly rather than orbiting the sun directly deals with that issue.

Ehhhh... Ceres, perhaps. I disagree that Pluto has not. The only thing Pluto has to clear out is Neptune, and we all know it would go the other way, should "clearing out" happen.

Pluto certainly is orbiting the sun directly, and its as spherical as any other planet. I'm going to keep annoying astronomers and calling Pluto a planet.

Belushi TD

[David Newton]

Back in the early 2010's, my daughter's preschool went to the local planetarium for a field trip. Being both naturally geeky and loving planetariums (you guys may have noticed this), I took the morning off work, and went with them as a chaperone, along with my wife. Being both naturally geeky and having an obnoxious streak a mile wide (you guys may have noticed this), I wore my "Bring Back Pluto" tshirt.

I have NEVER, in my entire life, seen an astronomer get so agitated and upset. He was actually yelling at me by the end of the argument. I think the final straw for him, after I gave him the line "Clear its local area, spherical under its own gravity, orbits the sun directly" thing, was that, in response to his question about Ceres, I told him I would have be happy with Ceres being considered a planet as well at which point I got to watch his brain break.

Belushi TD

Pluto fails that definition, as does Ceres. Neither have cleared out their local area.

Now exoplanets also fail that definition because they orbit stars other than the sun, but amending it to directly orbiting a star directly rather than orbiting the sun directly deals with that issue.

Ehhhh... Ceres, perhaps. I disagree that Pluto has not. The only thing Pluto has to clear out is Neptune, and we all know it would go the other way, should "clearing out" happen.

Pluto certainly is orbiting the sun directly, and its as spherical as any other planet. I'm going to keep annoying astronomers and calling Pluto a planet.

Belushi TD

There are many, many objects of Pluto's size and larger that have very similar orbits. It's simply that in the outer solar system "close" to each other in angular terms still means extremely far away in distance terms.

[Belushi TD]

And I'd be fine with calling them planets as well. Charon orbits Pluto so its NOT a planet.

Well, it orbits the barycenter of their gravitational system, but still.

Belushi TD