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A RARE PLANETARY event which involves the alignment of six planets in a row in our solar system will be visible to the naked eye in Irish skies tonight, astronomers have said.
The celestial event, also known as a ‘Planet Parade’ or the ‘great planetary alignment’, will see the sky scattered with a number of visible planets – including Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.
Uranus and Neptune will also be visible through a telescope.
Resident astronomer for the Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork Danielle Wilcox told RTÉ Radio’s News at One that the planets may be visible for an “entire month” in Irish skies.
“We are very lucky – we’ll have the planets in the sky basically throughout the month of February,” Wilcox said.
Most people in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to see the planets for the next four weeks.
“It’s really nice to have the planets in the sky, we don’t always have so many at one time, Wilcox said.
“This evening, will have four of the planets visible without a telescope or binoculars – you’ll have Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars all across the sky.”
Astronomer Danielle Wilcox told RTÉ Radio that the stars will be visible from late this afternoon.
“You don’t need to be out super late to see them, you can go out just after sunset and you’ll be able to see four planets without any sort of equipment,” Wilcox said.
Planet-gazers are advised to look to the south, where four of the planets will progressively appear. Venus will be the first planet visible, and will be the “brightest object in the sky” after the sun and moon.
“Just as the sun is setting down, one of the planets you’ll be able to spot quickly will be Venus. It will be so incredibly bright, you’ll see that one before the stars even come out,” Wilcox explained.
“Following this, Saturn will appear right next to Venus in a south-west direction. Then if you turn towards the south and look slightly south-east, you’ll see Jupiter, and further east, you’ll see Mars. Once they are all visible, the planets will stretch across the southern sky from west to east”.
Wilcox added that those with telescopes at home should also be able to spot two other planets, Uranus and Neptune.
“They’re a bit farther out as they’re the edge of the solar system, so they will not be visible to the naked eye, but if you have a good telescope, you can look in the same direction to see them,” Wilcox said.
“They’ll be in the same line as the rest of the planets, but you do need to have a bit of experience with the telescope to be able to spot those two,” she added.
Wilcox went on to explain that the final planet in the solar system, Mercury (sorry Pluto) may also be visible on “particularly clear evenings”.
“We’ll hopefully get some good skies towards the end of February, because Mercury will be popping up above the horizon as well, which will give you an additional planet in the sky. It looks like around the 27th will be the best time to see Mercury,” she said.
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I’d say the coverage will be unreal and the customer service second to none, said the sarcastic priest.
Paddy Wackery
Some of you are obsessed with customer service, can’t remember the last time I had to call them.
I can’t stand 3. Worst shower I ever had to deal with in my life.
If you were getting terrible network coverage in an area that’s on their map as a good area and then their customer service didn’t care, then you would be worried about their customer service, I think this is a terrible move, they should have used Vodafone or Meteor’s infrastructure, nothing good will come of a Three partnership, mark my words
Been with 3 for 4 yrs not a problem
Maybe UPC should sort their customer service first! They’ve gone from the very best to one of the worst!
@Ruairi: When were they ever the very best? They were still awful when they were ntl and Cablelink before that!
I’m stuck with them as I live in an apartment but their digibox and channel line-up is very poor vs Sky. Their broadband is excellent though but that’s about all they have going for them.
its only gonna get worse. Three’s customer service is based overseas and is answered by some poor sods in Punjab earning 150 Rupees an hour (€1.85 an hour).
Ian, I have UPC and find them very good. You’re right about the NTL days but I have never hit a brick wall with their customer service since they became UPC. Certainly better than Eircom(unists) and Sky
Ruairi,
when was the last time you called their customer service?
they changed a number of years ago and are actually very good.
easily accessible by phone, email, twitter and boards.ie
Last 3 mths they continue to overcharge me & exspect me to pay & I’m talking overcharging €30 they are incompdent fools
Let me guess. They’ll sell “bundles” that give you your home phone, mobile, Internet, TV and cat food in one package, so it’ll be even more difficult to switch providers.
Yes, and they’ll hold a gun to your head and force you to subscribe to it.
A lack of competition and options is effectively a gun to your head if you want to partake in the 21st century.
There is a lot of competition, don’t be ridiculous.
I think the technical term for such bundles is a fourplay.
For a small market the competition is fierce.
Cpm, there is one Cable TV provider in most cities in Ireland.. One.
“Cpm, there is one Cable TV provider in most cities in Ireland.. One.”
You were talking about bundles a minute ago, now it’s just cable TV?
I think you’re losing track of your argument in an effort to have the last word.
@Jeremy Osborne: Actually the entire point is that the competition is NOT fierce ENOUGH – Ireland’s mobile networks have amongst the highest Average Revenues per User in the EU – which is why the European Commission is now forcing 3 to open it’s network to TWO more competitors.
@ Ben Gunn – its referred to as Quadplay. Fixed Telephony, Broadband, Cellular and TV.
@ Picasso….. I know, I know, but please allow me a little attempt at schoolboy humour on a friday afternoon.
Such negativity. I see UPC’s entry into the mobile market as a positive for UPC customers. I am with UPC 7 years and I have phoned them on at least thirty occasions and the customer service staff have always been helpful to me.
30 times in 7 years? Why would anybody need to call them every 2.8 months!?
Moving house, reporting faults, general enquiries and a load of calls trying to convince them to give me a Cisco 3925 so i could bridge it and use my own Router. I got the 3925 in the end :)
And at all times the staff were courteous and helpful.
after buying O2. three should use their customer service
That will hardly happen. They will go with whatever is cheapest.
Wonder will they bring in femtocells to boost indoor mobile coverage?
No, they are a MVNO, however they may integrate it with the UPC phone app. which lets you use your mobile as home phone over any broadband connection.
The could sell a booster that plugs into their modem.
They’ve been around a while & would tie in well with the rest of their business.
no need too, they have the hardware in place already just use the wifi signal.
Great so another price hike on the way!!! Ffs
What?
Every time UPC get a bright new idea it means they increase the price on their packages for everybody to pay for it. In the last 2 years there has been around 3 or 4 price increases.
I’ve just gone through 3 years of emails from them and there was one price increase.
I’m sure you did. My bill has gone from €63 to €75 in the last 2 years for same service.
I did, yes. one email on 21st January this year about a price increase (a price increase of €5 and a self-service discount of €3, so a total increase of €2.
Why don’t you switch to Freeview or Sky?
Yes that one of them which varied in different amounts depending on which package you were in. The largest increase was for people who were out of contract in order to force them to sign up for a new one. There have been many increases over the last 2 years including the one you just mentioned. There was also one last summer to pay for their on demand service.
every time they raise prices is a change to contract, just ring customer care tell them your leaving because the price increase. they’ll put you through to customer retention department and offer you big discounts, if they don’t then move. (not many people end up moving)
Freeview do broadband and phone service now?
“Freeview do broadband and phone service now?”
UPC are the only providers of these services so, are they?
True brian iv done this a few times now ring saying im switching to sky. They put to on to loyalty line got good deals to stay each time. But after so long there channels are boring compare to what sky can offer. And for a better price
I left Sky for a month and they offered me 75% off my bill for 9 months. Sweet deal.
Id prefere it if they sorted out the issues with the Horizon Box of Sh#te..Bring back the dodgey boxes thems were the days.
I have no doubt that there will be an awful advertising campaign for this. That’s one area where they excel at. The TV ads from UPC make me change channel. I was with UPC once and never again. Three coverage is rubbish too. Both companies are welcome to each other.
Dennis O Briens UPC
uh…..no.
I hate the fact that we are stuck with upc because we are in an apartment. The horizon box is the worst product to ever be produced ,nothing but trouble with tv and broadband since getting it in
I wonder if they will tie in a data bundle for existing broad band customers, much like the horizon free wifi from other horizon boxes….
The guy to the right looks constipated ( main photo)
You look like you just let off a sneaky fart ;)
Brilliant 2 company’s know for their excellent customer service!,,,,,
The 3G/ 4G would be second to none, but the buttons/ design would be all over the show, with any incorrect entries leading to channel 100, adverts.
Jayziz look at those yokes. Hold on to your wallets.
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