Is it possible for the planets to align?

Question

if so what would happen if they did align?

Answer 1

The planets can *never* align perfectly because they all orbit slightly above or slightly below the plane of the solar system (called the 'ecliptic') Even if they were all aligned in a perfect line as seen from above, when viewed side on some would be above the ecliptic while others would be below it.

Several years ago there was a fairly good alignment as viewed from above, and all kinds of magazine articles, books, TV programs, etc., proclaimed that this would bring about all kinds of catastrophes on Earth. Not one prediction came to pass.

Answer 2

they do it now and then they are really too far apart to affect anything much all of them aligning at the same time must be extremely rare if it ever has happened

Answer 3

they get pretty close to aligning every great while. What happens when that happens? A good night to grab your telescope.

Answer 4

Predicted planetary “alignments” are completely false for 2012.  The positions of the planets will be about as far from an "alignment" as you can imagine.  The next "alignment" of the major planets is expected sometime after the Sun burns out.  Even if it did happen the question would arise "So what?"  Where is the physical connection between Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn etc?  

Gravity?  Like to calculate how strong the gravitational effects of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn is on Earth?  Multiply the masses of the planets together, divide by the square of the distance between them and then multiply by the gravitational constant, which is a rather small number.  Now add them all together and you still don't have a hill of beans.

Newton knew how more than 200 years ago, but our planetary alignment freaks never care to because the result would make them look as silly as they are.  

Venus will transit the Sun in June 2012, just as it did in 2004 and on a regular roughly 110 year cycle before that.  No noticeable effect then except on astronomers, some of whom will take measurements, no expected effect this next time.

Answer 5

Alignments of various planets in the solar system occur all the time. It seems that every time one comes along, doom-sayers arise to cry that this is the end of life on Earth as we know it. The laws of physics, however, cannot be denied in this Universe of ours.  Newton's Law of Gravitation states: The force between any two objects having masses M1 and M2 separated by a distance R is an attraction along the line joining the objects and has a magnitude:

F = (G x M1 x M2) / (R x R)

Let's hypothesize that we can miraculously put all the planets at their minimum distances from Earth, all in a straight line in one direction - so their gravitational forces add. This, of course, can never actually occur, but it will give us the maximum possible gravitational pull of the other planets on the Earth. So let's pretend that we can do this. What do we get?

If you put all the numbers in Newton's law (and make the units compatible), you get that the maximum force that all the other planets can exert on the Earth is roughly 3 x 10 to the 18 newtons. What sort of result will this have on the Earth... well, we use Newton's First Law which says that if a force F is applied to a mass M, the mass is accelerated by a value A. (This is the famous equation F=ma). A force of 3 x 10 to the 18 newtons acting on the Earth causes the Earth to accelerate by 5 x 10to the -7 meters per second per second. In other words, the planets in our solar system - aligned or not - cannot cause a shift in the movement of the Earth which will lead to mass destruction.

To compare, let us look at the gravitational force that the Sun exerts on the Earth. The mass of the Sun is about 329,400 times that of the Earth. They are separated on average by approximately 149,000,000 km. Thus, the Sun exerts a force of ~3.5 x 10 to the 22 newtons on the Earth. So you see, that the other planets in our solar system don't matter at all compared to the Sun!

To be entirely correct, I must tell you that the laws of physics involved actually shows that the Moon is one of the most important objects to the Earth... gravitationally speaking. It is the Moon which is responsible for things like ocean tides and such. All the other planets in our solar system added together do not have as large a gravitational effect on the Earth as the Moon does.

If life on this Earth ends, it will not be because of planets aligning in our solar system.

Answer 6

The closest planets can come to being alligned is within thirty degrees from each other. . All nine planets are somewhat aligned every 500 years.

Answer 7

dunno

Answer 8

They can never exactly align because their orbits are not in the same plane. From time to time, they can appear in roughly the same area of the sky, but this is just a natural consequence of their different orbital speeds. Astrologers get all excited about "alignments" and try to link them with future events on Earth. These predictions invariably fail. I could stand in Piccadilly Circus and watch a number 19 bus "align" with the statue of Eros. The consequences would be the same as a planetary alignment, i.e. zero.

Answer 9

Research 2012