Spectacular sight: Five planets appear together in Karachi at midnight

KARACHI: Five planets of the solar system witnessed together at 12 on Sunday night in the Pakistan sky, a top planetary scientist announced.

The five planets that were viewed simultaneously including 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.

"Five planets were visible together at midnight and all five could 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 was 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.