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"Five stars rise in the East" arm protector is a Chinese relic. This article says that "researchers from the Japanese observatory said the next alignment of the five planets to the east will not be until March 21, 2022," but looking at many site I can't find any such 5 planet conjunctions on that date, let alone in the East.

UPDATE Following the great answer given, could I please expand the question: Are 5 planet conjunctions like this rare? What constellation(s) are the 5 planets in during their conjunction? How long will the conjunction last? How far up in the sky does a person in Hong Kong have to look to see the conjunction, in laymen's terms? How far above the horizon?

Johan88
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    Note: A conjunction has a specific meaning in astronomy: two objects have the same right-ascension or ecliptic longitude (and usually within 5 degrees or so). Having 5 planets on the same side of the sky does not create a conjunction. In March 2022, Saturn and Mercury have a conjunction on Mar 2. Venus and Mars have a conjunction on Mar 12. Mercury and Jupiter have a conjunction on Mar 20. (Events from Astronomical Phenomena for the year 2022 and based on Universal Time.) – JohnHoltz Dec 13 '21 at 17:33
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    The edit asking how frequently 5 planets are on the same side of the sky, etc, should be a new question. The answers to the new question are not related to the answer of the original question "Will there be a five planet conjunction in March 2022". – JohnHoltz Dec 13 '21 at 17:35
  • @JohnHoltz Please forgive me for not making a new question; plenty of questions get very detailed answers that fully flesh out a subject, going beyond the original scope of the question, and it's too late to take my bounty back. I saw the other conjunctions in March 2022 but it was this one I was looking to see if it existed. If this would not be called a conjunction, then please, what would it be called? How common is it for a 5 planet string like this to happen? 10 times a year, or one time per 1000 years type thing? – Johan88 Dec 14 '21 at 04:20

2 Answers2

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THE ORIGINAL ANSWER SHOWED THE VIEW FROM NEW ZEALAND. THIS UPDATE IS EXCLUSIVELY ABOUT THE VIEW FROM HONG KONG.

Here's the view from the southeast coast of China (roughly Hong Kong) at just before 6am: enter image description here You can see the lat/long coordinates at the bottom of the image.

Mars, Venus, Saturn, Mercury and Jupiter form a nice conjunction just before sunrise, but by then the sky will probably be too bright to be able to see Mercury very easily. Venus and Saturn, and possibly Jupiter, will be bright enough to see if you have a clear horizon. The green line is the horizon, so the Sun is just about to rise.

What constellation(s) are the 5 planets in during their conjunction?

Venus, Mars and Saturn are in Capricorn, while Jupiter and Mercury are in Aquarius.

How long will the conjunction last?

The planets actually move quite slowly through the sky (that's why they're called 'planets' - from the Greek word for wanderer), so this grouping will last for quite a while, and on 30th of March, the Moon will join them, although by that time, Mercury (and probably Jupiter) will be lost in the Sun's glare.

How far up in the sky does a person in Hong Kong have to look to see the conjunction, in laymen's terms?

Jupiter and Mercury will be just a couple of finger widths above the horizon. I don't know what the view is like from Hong Kong. If you're looking across the water, you might be able to make out Jupiter and Mercury. Venus will be easier to see; it will be about three fist widths above the horizon, at an angle of 30$^\mathrm{o}$. Mars and Saturn are both dimmer than Venus, but if you can see Venus, you should be able to make them out.

If you have any further questions, make a new post asking them. I will also note, that astronomers wouldn't quite call this a 'conjunction'; see John Holtz's comment regarding this.

Jim421616
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THIS ANSWER IS NOW DEFUNCT. FULL ANSWER GIVEN ABOVE.

Here's the view from the southeast coast of China (roughly Hong Kong) at just before 6am:

enter image description here

I've included the lat/long in the screenshot (bottom left) so you can confirm the rough coordinates.

Jim421616
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