Manitoba Museum<\/a>, notes, \u201cThe planets are always in some kind of alignment because our solar system is basically a flat disc. All the planets go around the sun in the same way. If you’re on one of those planets, all the other planets are going to be lined up in some way.”<\/p>\nYoung adds that most clickbait posts exaggerate the alignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one that’s happening now is actually a little bit better because it involves some bright planets that we can actually see. The only trick is you have to get out right after sunset,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
For those hoping to catch the view, Young continues, \u201cIf you go out tonight or any night in the next few nights, at 6:30 PM and face towards where the sun is setting and really low on the horizon, you’ll see a bright star that will be the first one to come into view. That’s the planet Venus. Then, up above it, and a little bit to the right, will be the planet Mercury, which is much fainter. Then up above that and farther to the left will be the planet Saturn. Those are the three that you’ll be able to see over in the Western sky. Then way, way up in the south, you’ll see the moon and then farther down to the left of the moon, on the other side of the sky, is the planet Jupiter.”<\/p>\n
He notes, \u201cIt’s such a big line that we’re kind of in the middle of the line.”<\/p>\n
Blood moon set for early March<\/p>\n
Another event worth watching is the total lunar eclipse, often called a \u201cblood moon,\u201d happening the night of March 2 into the morning of March 3.<\/p>\n
Young says, \u201cIt actually starts, early in the morning, about 2:40 AM on March 3. Either you have to stay up really late on the second, or get up really early on the third.”<\/p>\n
The eclipse lasts several hours, allowing viewers to see the Moon gradually enter Earth\u2019s shadow and take on its red-orange hue.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou wind up with this beautiful orange coppery red hue that is really a striking kind of thing,\u201d Young adds.<\/p>\n
He notes the peak, or total phase, occurs between 5 and 6 a.m., but says the hour before and after offers unique views of the Moon slowly moving through the shadow.<\/p>\n
Despite some claims online, Young remarks that lunar eclipses are not particularly rare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are two or three lunar eclipses a year. In fact, we’ll see another lunar eclipse later this year,” he says.<\/p>\n
Where to watch safely<\/p>\n
For residents in Portage and southern Manitoba, Young suggests looking for dark, safe locations away from city lights.<\/p>\n
\u201cOut there in Portage and Westman, you, you are away from all the, the light pollution of Winnipeg. So you’ve already got a leg up,\u201d he notes. Parks with cleared parking lots are ideal, he adds.<\/p>\n
With clear skies and a warm jacket, Manitobans have a few nights to enjoy these rare, colourful events.<\/p>\n
– with files from Chris Kitchen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A planetary alignment and a total lunar eclipse are giving Manitobans a chance to see some spectacular sky…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":500787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[49,48,66],"class_list":["post-500786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-science","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=500786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/500786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/500787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=500786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=500786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=500786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}