Our five closest planetary neighbors – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are putting on a heavenly show after 11 years. Starting this week, the five planets are gathering together in the pre-dawn sky, which can be visible to the naked eyes. No telescope is needed. Just gaze up from most anywhere in the world.
For the first time in more than a decade, all five of the visible planets will be making an appearance together, starting from January 20 to February 20. For a month, people can view the five planets through naked eyes as their positions will be along the Sun’s perceived path in our sky forming a diagonal line. With the help of a telescope and binoculars the view will be more clear and precise.
“These planets are easily seen in our sky because their disks reflect sunlight, and these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars,” according to a post from Earth Sky.
While the bright planets all make regular appearances in the night sky, this is the first time they have been visible at the same time since January 2005. Starting with Jupiter in the evening, each planet will rise at a different time to be present in the sky together just before dawn.
According to NASA, the lineup will occur twice this year now and next time in July late through mid-August, but two planets Mercury and Venus will not be visible easily from the Northern latitudes. So there will be a chance for the people who miss it for the first time. The moon is also slated to appear in the lineup along with other five planets forming a triangle on February 6.
The best time for viewing the alignment of the five planets is an hour or 45 minutes before the sunrise, earlier than the planets will not be above the horizon and after that, the light of the rising sun will wash out the glimmer. According to the astrologers, February 5 is the best morning for seeing Mercury as the planet will more visible than any other day.
The phenomenon will be again in the lineup after 2 years in October 2018. If you want something bigger to look forward to, you can wait till May of 2161 – that’s when all eight of Earth’s fellow solar system planets (as they are listed for now) will draw a specular line in the sky.