Five 'bright' planets set to align in dawn sky
PRODave Dugdale / Flickr
Stargazers are in for a treat starting Wednesday when all five visible planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, will be visible in the morning sky.
Earth Sky reports that the planets will appear together before dawn from about Jan. 20 to Feb. 20. The last time the stars aligned in this fashion was from Dec. 15, 2004 to Jan. 15, 2005.
“In their outward order from the sun, the five bright planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn,” explained Earth Sky. “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.”
In September 2015 stargazers were treated to a rare supermoon eclipse - the first time that a supermoon had coincided with a lunar eclipse since 1982.