The public is invited to the observatory to see the eight major planets aligned in the same flat plane.
A parade of planets will be available for viewing Friday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m., and the J. Donald Cline ’78 Observatory on the roof of the Frank Family Science Center at Guilford College will give you a front-row seat to everything.
The eight major planets of our Solar System orbit the Sun in the same flat plane, and all at different speeds, says Don Smith, Guilford’s Raymond Binford Professor of Physics. The varying speeds means that, on occasion, several planets can line up on the same side of the Sun. This month all the planets will do just that.
“It’s going to be fun because we can set up the telescope and go bing, bing, bing from west to east and see all the planets at once,” says Don.
The event is open to the public at no charge.