5 planets will light the sky in rare astronomical event this week

Want to see it? We've got you covered.
 By 
Tim Marcin
 on 
forest with expansive night sky and stars
Stargazers will have a rare treat this week. Credit: Getty Images / Yuga Kurita

Stargazers will get treated to a rare view on Tuesday night. Five planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus — will light up the sky that evening, aligning to (mostly) be visible by the naked eye.

Now, it might be best to break out a telescope or binoculars if you've got them handy, but if you have a clear sky you can see this rare sight.

You'll have to time when you go star-watching to see it all godown. In an NPR article, Rick Fienberg, senior contributing editor of Sky & Telescope magazine, recommends that you look for the planets just after sunset.


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"Wait until the sun has set and then go out and look low in that bright part of the sky where the sun has just set with binoculars, and you should see brighter Jupiter next to fainter Mercury," Fienberg told NPR.

Venus is bright and should be easier to spot higher in the sky, while Mars should be reddish and near the moon. Uranus is duller and should be spotted near Venus.

You might have just 20-25 minutes to take in the planets, so you'll want to be sure you're set up and ready come sunset. Of course, things like the brightness of twilight or the clearness of the skies will affect your ability to see the planets as well. Like most things, it'll require some luck.

But if you do get lucky, you'll have a great evening of stargazing this week.

Topics NASA

close-up of man's face
Tim Marcin
Associate Editor, Culture

Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).

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