Spectacular sight of five planets together to be seen in Karachi at midnight

The planets include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, says ISPA Director Prof Dr Jawed Iqbal

Uneeba Waqar

July 19, 2020

"It will be possible to see the five planets together at midnight and all five can be seen without binoculars," explained Prof Dr Muhammad Jawed Iqbal, the director at the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA) — a research facility at the University of Karachi. Joshua Earle/via Unsplash

KARACHI: Five planets of the solar system would be visible together at 12am tonight in the city sky, a top planetary scientist announced on Sunday.

The five planets that can be viewed simultaneously tonight include Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, according to Prof Dr Muhammad Jawed Iqbal, the director at the Institute of Space and Planetary Astrophysics (ISPA) — a research facility at the University of Karachi.

Images taken by NASA spacecraft and clubbed together show (top to bottom) Mercury, Venus, Earth and its moon, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. NASA/via Geo.tv

"It will be possible to see the five planets together at midnight and all five can be seen without binoculars," Dr Iqbal said. "Usually, two to three planets are visible in the night sky."

The scientist noted that the coming together of the planets would be available for viewing for the next few nights. However, it would be difficult to see the interesting activity in the sky due to Karachi's current cloudy weather.

It is interesting to note that at the same time, Mercury will be in retrograde (apparent motion of moving backwards) for the second time this year, from June 18 to July 12, 2020, according to Forbes. Furthermore, the ringed Saturn would be brightest at night on July 20, the publication added, as it would reach opposition.