All five of the planets that we can see with the naked eye — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn – will line up in the sky later in June, giving skywatchers something particularly wonderful to look forward to.
Not only that, but they'll appear in order of their distance from the Sun as you scan the horizon from left to right: starting with Mercury (an average distance of 58 million kilometers or 36 million miles from the Sun) and ending with Saturn (an average distance of 58 million kilometers or 36 million miles from the Sun) (an average of 1.4 billion kilometers or 886 million miles from the Sun).
Just before the Sun rises and obscures the view, the not-to-be-missed celestial extravaganza will be visible towards the eastern horizon. Look east and south in the Northern Hemisphere, and east and north in the Southern Hemisphere.
While the alignment should be visible throughout June, the difference between Mercury and Saturn will be at its lowest on the mornings of June 3 and 4, at only 91 degrees.
The 27th of June is another important day to remember. The space between Venus and Mars will widen to 107 degrees, and the declining crescent Moon will appear between them (you could even think of it as a stand-in for Earth).
On June 27, Mercury will also be plainly visible, making it easy to detect it before moving to the right along the horizon. The planetary spectacle should be visible for around an hour on this specific morning.
These events and the visibility of the planets may change in terms of dates depending on where you are in the world - these events and the visibility of the planets may vary in terms of dates depending on where you are in the world. Even if there are a few gloomy days throughout the month, there should be plenty of opportunities for everyone to see the five planets.
The ability to observe the planets together like this is known as a conjunction, and five-planet conjunctions are extremely rare — the previous one occurred in December 2004, therefore we encourage taking advantage of this chance.
Astronomers suggest that on rare days, you might be able to see Uranus and Neptune as well. To view these dots, you'll need binoculars and a telescope, as these planets can't be seen with the naked eye from Earth.
This has been in the works for a while: you may recall that in June, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter were all lined up in the sky. Of course, it's all a matter of perspective, but these are some incredible things to see.
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