The Planetary Lineup

The recent film, Tomb Raider, is based upon the premise that once every 5,000 years all the nine planets of the solar system will line up, one behind the other, in an eclipse-like manner. In the movie, this alignment, when combined with and ancient artifact, brings great power. Returning to reality, astronomers state that such an alignment has never (and likely could never) occurred. That being said, the next best thing is happening right now - an alignment of five of the planets. Beginning April 26, and lasting for about 10 days, the planets Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are forming an almost straight line in the western sky. Unlike the movie, they are not lining up one behind another, but rather in a diagonal line beginning with Mercury low to the horizon (only visible from an area with a clear horizon) and climbing to Jupiter which will be easily visible even in the mountains.

In order to see the entire planetary grouping, you'll need to take a short road trip out of the mountains. The peaks surrounding most mountain communities will block Mercury, Venus and perhaps even Mars. You'll want an open horizon for this rare planet watching opportunity.

The planets will be visible in the western sky around sunset (8:30 p.m.). The two brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus are the easiest to locate. Forming a slight diagonal, Jupiter is the highest of the planets in this lineup. Saturn and Mars lie along an imaginary line between Jupiter and Venus. Mercury lies along this same line, but even closer to the horizon than Venus.

To spot Saturn, look for a pair of bright objects along the line joining Jupiter and Venus. The object on the upper right is Saturn. The remaining star in the pair is the star Aldebaran, part of the constellation Taurus.  

The remaining planets are more difficult to spot, and much less bright. To locate Mars, look for a faint object that forms a triangle with  Aldebaran and Saturn.

Mercury is the most difficult planet of all to spot. It lies very close to the horizon along the same line as the remaining planets. Good luck.

The Tomb Raider Saga

According to the website www.BadAstronomy.com, and the Discovery Channel, the planetary alignment shown in the movie Tomb Raider has never occurred in the history of the solar system. How do they know that? Supercomputers can simulate the solar system at any time in the past 4.5 billion years. These simulators show that not only has it not occurred, it is not likely to ever occur. The movie shows all nine planets lining up one behind the other. In reality, the orbits vary not just on the horizontal, but on the vertical as well. As an example, the orbit of Pluto is offset from that of the Earth by as much as 17 degrees. In addition, the gravity exerted by each planet tends to repel such alignments. The end result, the eclipse-like alignment in the movie will likely never occur. The alignment we are currently seeing is an apparent lining up of the planets in the sky, but not one behind another as in this move.

For more information visit: www.badastronomy.com/bad/movies/tombraider2.html or visit the Discovery Channel website at www.exn.ca and search for Tomb Raider. There is a video you can watch which discusses this exact topic.

If you would like more information on these planets, go to http://sse.jpl.nasa.gov/features/planets/planetsfeat.html.