Five Planets Aligned: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible at the same time

Five planets, namely Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, will align in an event that is to happen after over a decade. The resulting ‘line’ will be visible in our sky around an hour before sunrise on January 20, and will persist till the last days of February.

Jupiter is the highest in the sky, lying in the southwest. It rises first in the evening sky, shortly after 10 p.m. Mars will have risen after 2 a.m., followed by Saturn and Venus a couple of hours later.

As for Mercury, due to its proximity to the sun (being the nearest planet to our star), it’s a bit trickier to make out. It rises just after 7 a.m.

Venus will be the brightest planet near the horizon. Jupiter is the second-brightest, with Saturn third brightest and Mars being the dimmest between Saturn and Jupiter.

This is the first time these planets have been aligned since 2005. And even better is that you will be able to catch all five of these night sky jewels all the way until Feb. 20.

Though it’s been 10 years since the last time these planets were aligned, the next alignment isn’t so far off: all five will once again meet in the night sky from Aug. 13 to 19 (but they won’t be lined up).

Agencies/Canadajournal