The line-up of planets has fascinated amateur astronomers around the world this month. The upcoming planetary convergence involves fewer planets, but they will be grouped much closer, within 15 degrees of each other. The alignment will reach its climax on May 17, said scientists with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Venus will be heading into the picture while Mercury will be on its way out. Jupiter and Saturn will be in the picture too, but Mars will be out of view on the left.
People sometimes attribute special significance to rare celestial events.
For example, some prophets of doom predicted the end of the world for the planetary alignment last week. Astronomers, however, calculate that such events have infinitesimally small effects on Earth's gravity. Earth observers won't be able to see the converging planets, which similar to last week will disappear in the glare of the sun. SOHO can because it blocks out direct rays from the solar surface with its Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph. It also sees stars beyond the sun and has discovered many comets.