Celestial Show @ East Coast Park, Singapore

The sighting of a spectacular, rare astronomical alignment of 5 planets of the solar system appear together in the skies, is to me a first-time experience.

On Saturday, February 6, 2016, I arrived at the East Coast Park at 6:15 am.

The 5 planets align diagonally in the cosmos and visible to the naked eyes.

As I gazed upwards to the sky, it was like watching at a hugh, wide movie screen ..... Awesome!

The sky was still dark when I reached the place, but there were already several stargazers at Area F at East Coast Park.

There were helpful information from the Science Centre Observatory (SCOB) here .  According to SCOB, the planets can be seen at any location with an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon on a day of good weather and clear skies.

It is a blessing that there was good weather with clear skies at this stargazing location this morning.

Luckily it did not rain at East Coast Park, else this celestial display in the skies would be a washout.

Local astronomers are not to miss this rare, special "astronomical event" to witness this phenomenon.

Although I am not an astrology fan, I wake up early to view the beautiful planets in the Milky Way at the best spot in Singapore to capture the moments personally to share on this blog.

Thanks to meeting Siang Hock, a friendly astronomy enthusiast and his friends and family.

This is the photo of the moon taken with the Orion Starmax 90mm tabletop Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope at the East Coast Park stargazing session.  Photo Credit:  Siang Hock.  Thank you for sharing on the blog.

Siang Hock offering tips on the use of the handy telescope to photograph with the smartphone camera.

As the sky brightens, the stars were not visible.  Its a new bright, day to enjoy the beautiful views of the East Coast Park and the sea.  The breezy, calmness and soothing fresh air at ECP for everyone.

Meanings of the Stars as Astrology

While it is not all that rare for the two planets to get so close to each other, the viewing angle at many latitudes and the time of day made the conjunction a particularly spectacular event, which some stargazers have likened to the Christian biblical "Star of Bethelhem " when Jesus Christ was born.

According to one astrology website, Jupiter lords over philosophy, while Mars is an action planet, Saturn on the other hand is a planet of karma, Venus is love, Mercury is the planet of communication, and the moon – she’s the ruler of emotions.

Perhaps this rare celestial alignment is a call for us to heed good philosophy and build good karma by communicating our emotions and putting action to love.

Or maybe, it’s just a rare phenomenon and nothing more.
(Source: The Independent)

In Chinese literature, these 5 planets are called Wu Xing (五星), literally translated as "5 Stars/Planets".

Planet = 行星 (Xing Xing)

Star = 恒星 (Heng Xing)

金星 (metal) = Venus

木星 (wood) = Jupiter

水星 (water) = Mercury

火星 (fire) = Mars

土星 (earth) = Saturn

More info about 五星连珠 ("5 planets connected like a string of pearls") here .

五大行星中，金星、火星、土星出现在西方的地平线上，木星则悬挂在和

五星连珠

30度角的天空上，而水星也正在逐渐靠拢。五大行星将按照水、金、火、木、土依次排列，由高到低连成一条线，古时称为“五星连珠”。由于五颗星都是大行星，亮度较高，人们用肉眼就可以清晰地看到。

五大行星他们各自有各自的轨道，在未来的一段时间内都不会有碰撞的可能。除非等到世界已经不存在，但是那时候又会发生什么就不得而知了。