Planetary Alignment: Spring 2002

The five aligning planets are in yellow. (Photo: Bill Arnett's The Nine Planets)
Click on each planet to learn more about them.

Greek Line Dancing in the Evening Sky
The five brightest planets visible from Earth have lined up to form a spectacular celestial array that will not be seen again until 2040. From April 16 to May 18, 2002, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury will appear in the western sky, visible in the evening with the naked eye. The last time they were this visible was in 1940. On May 5, the planets Mars, Venus, and Saturn will group together to form a perfect equilateral triangle in the western sky, visible almost anywhere on Earth. In the Middle East, this triangle will hang directly above Bethlehem. This triangular grouping occurred over Bethlehem on April 1, 2 B.C., and may have prompted the three Biblical Magi to visit the Christ Child. On May 10, the planets Venus & Mars will appear dancing so close to each other, that to the naked eye, they seem to merge as one bright star. Here's a treat for aficionados of Greek mythology— that the God of War & Goddess of Love are together again (Homer, Odyssey Bk. VIII). On June 3, Venus will be dancing with Jupiter. Below are more links on this celestial feast. (PYC)

"Five Planets to Align for Sky Show" New York Times (Associated Press, April 18, 2002)
"A Rare Dance of Planets" Sky & Telescope (By Alan M. MacRobert, April 2002)
"Tantalizing Triangle" & "All in a Row" Sky & Telescope (Sky Map at dusk on May 5 & April 22, 2002)
"Spectacular planet show promised" BBC News (By Helen Briggs, April 19, 2002)
"5 planets line up for rare display" San Francisco Chronicle (By David Perlman, April 19, 2002)
"Planets to waltz across night-sky ballroom" Christian Science Monitor (By Mark Sappenfield, April 19, 2002)
"The Celestial Season's Fling" Washington Post (By Ian Shapira, April 22, 2002)
"Rare Planet Alignment in April and May" Space.com (By Joe Rao, April 2, 2002)
"Planet Alignment Peaks Sunday and Monday" [May 5-6] Space.com (By Joe Rao, May 3, 2002)
"Tower of Planets" StarDate Online, (By Damond Benningfield, April 22, 2002)
"Caution— Planetary Traffic Jam Ahead!"
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, CfA Press Release (April 3, 2002)
"When Worlds Align: The Grandest Tour of All"
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (April 16 - May 18, 2002)
When Worlds Align: A Coloring Book of the Greek Gods (for children)
"2002 Spring Planets" (By Chuck Bueter, Paper Plate Education)
(Lots of Sky Charts from April 18 to May 14)
Viewing the planetary alignment, 2002 (Astronomy Dept., University of Toronto)
"Relax, it's only April: eye-popping show in May 2002" (By Dr. Tony Phillips, Science@NASA, 4-24-2002)
(Sky Charts from April 25, May 1-7, May 10, May 14)
"Cosmic alignment heralds no disaster" (By Dr. David Whitehouse, BBC News, 5-3-2000)
"Planetary Alignments in 2000" (By Dr. John Mosley, Griffith Observatory, March 1996)
"Planetary alignments" (By Dr. Richard Radick, National Solar Observatory, 3-1-1999)
The Last Planetary Alignment on May 5, 2000 (WisdomPortal.com)
Planetary Alignment & The Stock Market (WisdomPortal.com)