Social media users are very interested in space and planets etc. As a result many social media posts regarding them can be seen. But some of these circulated posts are misleading and here is an inquiry about such a misleading social media post.
Social Media Posts.
There are social media posts circulating stating that all the planets will be aligned on January 25th. They indicate that Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus will be aligned in the next 48 hours starting from January 25th. It also indicates that Pluto will be in conjunction with the Sun.
In addition to the facts mentioned above, there is also a circulation of a belief about the constellations that a great spiritual revoulution will take place due to the alignment of these planets. Since, it is difficult to investigate such facts and due to personal beliefs, we decided to investigate the facts about the alignment of planets.
Fact Check
NASA, issuing a statement on the social media posts that are spreading rapidly on social networks even internationally, says that there is a little truth in these facts, but most of them are exaggerated.
How are the planets actually positioned?
Mercury is mostly seen in the morning sky in January and can be clearly seen in the night sky in February. But by that time, Saturn and Neptune will move below the horizon and will be difficult to see easily.
Despite the myths spreading on social media, 6 planets will be clearly visible in the night sky in January 2025.Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus can be seen with the naked eye and Uranus and Neptune can be seen through telescopes.
Astronomer Indika Medagangoda of the Arthur C. Clarke Center told us that the special feature of January is that many planets can be seen effortlessly in the night sky. He further comments and emphasizes that most months require special effort to see the planets but not so in January. However, he said that it is difficult to see the planets in the night sky due to the cloudy skies these days. He added that this is a process that will take place in January until mid February and that there will be no special event on January 25th. Astronomers believe that these types of situations are not rare but worth seeing. You can refer to more details about that here.
Understanding the movements of Planets.
The planets in our solar system move in elliptical orbits around the sun. In some cases, these movements are observed from the earth as a single line, but it is only an optical effect.
Uranus and Neptune, a pair of planets which are difficult to see, can be seen aligning together this month.
Here is more information about that.
Here is an explanation of the planetary alignments in the sky for January and February posted on NASA’s website.
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Conclusion :
In our investigation, we found that the social media posts stating that the planets will be aligned on January 25th are misleading. About 6 planets can be seen in the night sky in the month of January and February. However, it is difficult to see this clearly in the sky of Sri Lanka on these days due to the cloudy sky and bad weather
Title:A planetary alignment on January 25, 2025
Fact Check By: Fact Crescendo TeamResult: Missing Context
