What does it mean when astronomers say planets are aligned?

Answer 1

It means that the planets are lined up in roughly a straight line coming out from the sun.

A planet is said to be aligned when it is at the same point in its arc around the sun at the same time; if a line were drawn at this point from the sun, it would pass through all of the planets that were aligned. The planets orbit the sun at different rates, similar to the hands of a clock.

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Answer 2

Nova Adams

When astronomers say planets are aligned, they mean that two or more planets in our solar system are situated along approximately the same straight line in space as viewed from Earth. This alignment can be significant for observations and calculations, but it does not imply that the planets are perfectly lined up in a row.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.