Photo Credits: Submitted
A rare six planet alignment sparked interest for many faculty, staff, and students of Arkansas Tech on Feb. 28. Members of the ATU Society of Physics Students gathered to witness the event.
The stargazing event took place at a park on Lock and Dam Rd. Students were accompanied by professors Dr. Mathew Hankins and Dr. Hamed Shojaei, who helped guide the experience and share their knowledge about the night sky.
A planetary alignment like this occurs when several planets appear to line up in the sky from Earth’s perspective. In reality, the planets are not perfectly aligned in space, but because they orbit the sun along a similar plane, they can appear grouped together in a line. During this particular event, six planets were aligned.
Although the night was cloudier than they had hoped, the group remained enthusiastic. Telescopes were brought to observe the moon and planets more clearly. Even when clouds blocked the view, Dr. Hankins took time to explain where the planets would be located. This kept the event an engaging learning experience.
