What Happens When The Planets Align? | Neil deGrasse Tyson Explains…

How rare are planetary alignments? Neil deGrasse Tyson and comedian Chuck Nice explain the alignments and conjunctions of the planets in our solar system.

What does it mean for the planets to be aligned? Does that mean that something special will happen or you will have good luck? We discuss the plane of the solar system, the origins of the days of the week, and what it means to be in alignment. That, plus, what is the difference between alignments and conjunctions?

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Science meets pop culture on StarTalk! Astrophysicist & Hayden Planetarium director Neil deGrasse Tyson, his comic co-hosts, guest celebrities & scientists discuss astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe. Keep Looking Up!

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00:00 - Introduction
01:14 - The Order of the Planets
6:58 - What Makes Alignment Special
8:13 - When Alignments Repeat
9:58 - Planetary Conjunctions

[StarTalk]

Have you witnessed a planetary alignment?

[mattevans-koch]

I always thought that the "alignment" of the planets meant that they formed a pattern that if you drew a straight line from the center of the sun to the edge of the solar system a number of the planets would be along that line at approximately the same time. That alignment would look like they were stacked vertically. Based on the different periods of revolution around the sun, this would be a rare event.

[jamesjellis]

The way I've always understood "planetary alignment" was that one could draw a straight line through the given planets and sun when viewed from all directions.

[rebecca_stone]

"it's possible for something to be rare, and completely uninteresting". Love that! Wise words.

[screamcheeese]

The planets are always aligned among the same plane, but they’re NOT always aligned in the sense of the planets being in a straight line with each other, which is what everyone thinks of when it comes to planetary alignment. With all the different orbit times they have, wouldn’t that indeed be rare?

[lukion]

During the summer of 1991 there was an alignment of 4 planets - the Earth, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter. As June progressed, you could see the other three planets in a mostly straight line in the evening sky coming closer and closer to each other. I think it was in early July they all came within one degree of each other, not perfectly aligned in that mostly straight line they had before, but they formed a tight triangle. Then, after that, they drifted apart and went their separate ways again. It was truly a sight to behold, being able to watch it get set up for weeks, and then watching it dismantle for weeks after.

[vince]

I do love how Neil has the ability to make me feel less bad about missing out on "extraordinary" stellar events.

[davemac]

Dear Mr deGrass Tyson & Chuck, but what happens when the planets all line up in space on one side of the Sun, like in the image at 9:28? When's the next time that will happen? And would the gravitation pull from all the outer planets be enough to affect anything like the tides here on earth? Would that make the Sun wobble it's biggest wobble?

[Atite_Lometen]

I used to work as a cater, and we had a customer that were into the end of the world stuff so I would get really good tips like $70 for delivering and setting up the big feast they got every year, I would say thank you and I never said see you next year, you got to know you customers. So in my opinion I would say what happens when planets align... you get good tips.

[dafizzlord]

You all should do an explainer on the days of the week, how this relates to the Gods of antiquity, and how in turn this relates to space and our Universe. This subject is so interesting when you mentioned the days of the week during this video. I feel like as smart as our human race has gotten we have forgotten some deep and beautiful truths that permeate our reality and are prevalent across all cultures regardless of our lens bias, societal norms, or religious view. This should unite us and not divide us, specially as we move forward into the challenges of this century.

[holygroove]

I really like the visuals here! Please continue to use them as you are able to!

[cwbuilds]

Wait... if planetary alignment happens like the media expects it to, would we just be looking at a single dot because theyre all behind each other? Assuming we are in perfect aligmnet with them like in the pictures.

[lesternielson]

Do the planets ever share the same radial line and for lack of a better term "eclipse" each other?

[SMP]

Back in 1984 I think it was. I went out into my backyard and looked up and saw three planets are different colours in a straight line. It’s the only time I ever saw that and then I remember thinking that it was quite remarkable

[jazzboneplaya]

I love these cats 😂. Thanks for making astronomy so fun and entertaining yet keeping it factual 🙏🏾

[ahrounwolf]

And here I simply took for granted the fact that the solar system objects were on the se plane, assuming that when "alignments" were mentioned, those doing so, were talking about from the top down view, sun centric.

[Rbobbe]

In high school (1997-98) is saw a conjunction of a crescent moon, Jupiter and Mars (I think, although it may have been Venus). All three were perfectly aligned vertically. It was a spectacular sight and I managed to get a photo of it, but it was with film and my then girlfriend kept the negatives, but it was still really cool. I'll never forget what it looked like. Just sharing!

[JDabc]

NDT has a wonderful voice. I love it when he’s serious with his explanations.

[richiewitkowski]

When the moon does Occultations those are beautiful sights in telescopes! Saw the Mars/Moon Occultation back in December one of the coolest things ive witnessed in a telescope

[EpicPalmTree]

8:46 was a nice moment for me. I watch these videos out of curiosity knowing that there will be bits of information I won't truly understand. However the Incredibles reference was silly and brought a somewhat complex concept closer to the ground. Thank you for these videos where I can learn a ton.