You’ll be able to see a hidden planet during the total solar eclipse
On August 21, as the moon passes in front of the sun, casting its dark shadow along a 70-mile-wide path of the total solar eclipse across the United States, an alien sky will appear overhead.
Slowly, the sky will turn from bright daylight to darkness, revealing a darkened, midday sky as the total phase of the eclipse descends upon the planet.
The moon will blot out the sun's light during totality, allowing you a view of four planets with your naked eye alongside constellations usually only visible in the winter months in the Northern Hemisphere.
Specifically, if you know what to look for, you should be able to see Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury, according to Patrick McCarthy, director of the Giant Magellan Telescope Organization.
"Now you'll look up and you'll see the eclipsed sun and there will be Mercury on one side and Venus on the other and then Jupiter a little further out," McCarthy said.
It's really difficult to spot Mercury with any regularity because of how close it is to the sun.
For the most part, the light from the sun blots out our view of Mercury during most of the year, so being able to actually see the tiny planet is a real treat.
"Most people have never in their lives seen the planet Mercury because it's so close to the sun, it's very difficult to see," McCarthy said.
"There are only a few time a year or every other year where Mercury is far enough away from the sun that if you time it carefully at sunset, you can see it for a few minutes or a few minutes before sunrise."
Keep an eye out for constellations as well.
The sun will be in the constellation Leo during the eclipse. That constellation is usually only during winter in the Northern Hemisphere due to Earth's orbit and rotation.
Be sure that you don't look up to the sky with your naked eye before totality. Invest in a good pair of solar eclipse glasses so that you can easily check out the sun during the partial phase of the eclipse.
But once the moon fully passes in front of the sun, feel free to take those glasses off and hunt the sky for planets and stars you can't usually see.
There are some simple ways to tell the difference between planets and stars without the use of a sky map.
First of all, planets don't "twinkle" in the sky, but stars do. The light emitted by stars has to travel light-years to get to Earth and the turbulence in our atmosphere makes that point of light look like is blinking a bit.
Planets, on the other hand, are closer to Earth, so the light from those nearby worlds isn't so easily disrupted by turbulence.
You can also tell a planet from a star based on the position of the object in the sky.
The planets will all be in something of a straight line stretching across the darkened sky during the eclipse, so that should be an easy way to pick them out.
This happens because you're literally looking out onto the plane of the solar system, where all the planets circle the sun in their orbits, McCarthy added.
Unfortunately, it'll be difficult to spot any planets and stars if you're outside of the relatively thin band of totality, which stretches through states from Oregon to South Carolina, on August 21.
While the rest of North America outside of the path of totality will be treated to a partial solar eclipse, the moon likely won't blot out enough of the sun to give you a good view of any stars or planets.
That said, a partial solar eclipse is still worth checking out. Just be sure to have an approved pair of eclipse glasses and look to the sky at the right time.
Miriam Kramer worked as a staff writer for Space.com for about 2.5 years before joining Mashable to cover all things outer space. She took a ride in weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight and watched rockets launch to space from places around the United States. Miriam received her Master's degree in science, health and environmental reporting from New York University in 2012, and she originally hails from Knoxville, Tennessee. Follow Miriam on Twitter at @mirikramer.
