Do the planets in the solar system and the sun come in a perfect alignment, ? If so, when?

Question

Do the planets in the solar system and the sun come in a perfect alignment, just like the earth, moon and the sun comes in alignment during an eclipse? If so, when? This question is a inspired by the movie, Tomb Raider

Answer 1

No, it is not possible. Each of the orbits reside on a unique plane each tilted at different angles. These planes intersect each other along different lines for each combination of two planets. Therefore it is geometrically impossible for more than two planets, plus the sun to be exactly alligned.

Answer 2

Perfect alignment in a 2 dimensional way, it does sometimes happen but not very often. Neptune takes 164 years to make a single orbit. Uranus takes 84 years. Imagine how often just those two will line up with the sun. Figure with all of the planets and it takes a long time. Heck, it is pretty rare to have all the planets within the same quadrant around the sun.

Now, that is 2-D. If you look at the planets in 3-D it will not happen. Not all of the planets orbit in the same plane around the sun. Some are a bit higher than others. Even if they all were in a line if you were looking at them from above, they would not be in a single file line if you were looking down them.

http://www.etsu.edu/physics/etsuobs/starprty/22099dgl/planalign.htm

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/planets_align_020402-1.html

(discusses Tomb Raider)
http://www.wonderquest.com/alignment.htm

Answer 3

The more planets involved, the longer you wait. (Do you want them all on the same side of the sun, too?) The alignments aren't perfect because the orbits of the planets are inclined at different angles. (Pluto is too erratic to even consider.) Several planets get pretty close to lining up avery 40 years or so, but all 8 have probably never been perfectly aligned.

Visually, about all you can expect is a conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky. You need a telescope for the next two and Mercury and Venus would be on the Sun side. Cosmically, there's about as much effect as watching the odometer on the family car reaching 99999.9.

Answer 4

The odds that the planets, even just four or five, would be in perfect alignment are so infinitesimal that it's not even worth considering.

Regardless, such an occurrence would never be of concern to anyone on Earth other than as an astronomical anomaly.

The "alignment" of seven planets cited in two other answers thus far, was not perfect. I don't remember it, but I can assure you that the alignment was nothing more than an approximation and I'd bet dollars to donuts that the standard deviation from the nominal was millions of kilometers.

Answer 5

No. The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Pluto will be in roughly the same 45 degree wide patch of sky on that date, but Uranus and Jupiter will be "sort of" in the other half of sky, with Saturn and Neptune spread out between them. Five things in the same quarter of the sky may sound impressive, but think about this: The Sun, Mercury and Venus are almost _always_ in the same 45 degree patch of sky. The moon is within 45 degrees of the sun for about one week per orbit, for three or four days on either side of a new moon. As we go around the sun each year, the Sun and Pluto are in the same 45 degree patch of sky for about three months. When you know that, it doesn't sound so rare. In fact, I'd be surprised to find a year when those five things weren't in the same quarter of the sky for at least a few days. What happened was that someone looked at the date, said "oh, 12/12/12. That's a rare combination, so something unusual must be about to happen" without stopping to think that the reason it's 12/12/12 is because Pope Gregory XIII modified the calendar of Julius Caesar, who modified an earlier Roman calendar. Astronomically, the date means nothing.

Answer 6

They can align themselves roughly. As has been psted 7 did just a few years ago. But they will never line up perfectly like the Earth-Moon-Sun. This is because their orbits are tilted at different angles.

Answer 7

A couple of years ago, 7 of the planets were in alignment. Nothing special happens.

Answer 8

there is something called the Mayan Prophecy. Every 12,000 or so years the planets and the sun allighn. This will happen in either 2011 of 2012. Nobody knows what will happen or how bad it will be. But I bet you they will make a movie out of this! ; )

Answer 9

Yeah, but it happens rarely. Nearest prediction I know of is December 22, 2098.

Answer 10

It doesn't work that way. the planets just cant do it.