The planets appear in a line because they orbit on a similar plane to the Earth’s orbit around the sun.
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“These were the five planets that were known to the ancients”, Worthey said.
“Going to a park isn’t always the best because the trees will obstruct your view”, she said.
As a skywatcher looks up in the southern sky, the array will extend from the southeast to the west. At this stage, the key to catching all five is to locate Mercury low above the eastern horizon before sunrise, said science educator Jim Todd. But even in city lights, you can likely several of them if you can get a good view of the southeastern sky. In New York City, the timing of Mercury’s rise will be between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. Exact times for specific days can be found on The Old Farmer’s Almanac. About 45-90 minutes before sunrise glace to the south and spot 5 planets in the sky!
“The one that you’re going to have trouble seeing is Mercury”, Faherty said. Next find the bright star Spica about halfway between Mars and Jupiter, which also shines very brightly in the sky.
The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, will start the show at approximately 9:30 pm, and it will be in the sky until 6:30 am in the early morning when Mercury will be all set to show up.
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A telescope is not necessary to see the rare alignment of the planets, but a telescope will allow you to see Saturn’s rings as well as its brighter moons. The lineup spans more than half of the visible skyline. The next time will be in August 2016 and then not again until July 2020.
