Five Planets Will Align Starting Tomorrow Morning

Starting tomorrow morning and lasting into February, five planets will align in what is a rare but favorite celestial event. It has been more than 10 years since Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter aligned in the night sky in such a way that anyone could see them with the naked eye. Some of the planets will be a little more dim than others, though, so you should probably bring binoculars as a backup.

Of course, the five aforementioned planets aren't going to be the only stars visible (for those with clear skies, that is), and so you might need to try a few times to spot the alignment. Once you find one of the brightly shining planets, though, tracing your way upward to the next one should be easy.

This alignment won't be a one-day or even one-week event, as is typical with such celestial phenomena. Instead, the alignment will start tomorrow, January 20, and last until the same day next month, February 20. The end of this month and beginning of next month, though, will be the ideal time to see the stars.

The planets won't be in a perfectly straight line, instead forming a somewhat curved line with Mars being the highest and Jupiter dipping back down a bit as the last in the arrangement. Sky & Telescope has created the image above to show approximately where the planets will be in relation to each other.

Head outside 45 minutes before sunrise to see the planets.

VIA: NYT