If you like planets, this is your week. Five of the solar system’s most celebrated satellites—Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Mars— will appear all at once, lined up right with the moon.
The best time to view the five-planet alignment is on Tuesday, March 28, right after sunset. If you look to the western horizon about a half hour after sunset, you should see all five planets in a straight line leading halfway up the night sky. You’ll only have a short time to see Mercury and Jupiter, though. The reclusive pair will slide below the horizon about half hour after they appear.
Where is the best place to see the five planets?
You’ll be able to see this celestial event anywhere on the planet with a cloudless sky. If you can get to the eastern edge of a large body of water, you will have found an optimal viewing spot. But failing that, a dark, open place with no trees or buildings should work. Just be mindful of the light pollution from cities. Helpfully, the moon is in its waxing crescent phase, so it’s not reflecting too much light.
Do you need binoculars to see the planets?
You should be able to see Venus and Mars with the naked eye. Venus will be brighter than other stars and Mars will be the red “star” right near the moon. The other three planets could pose some visibility issues if you don’t have binoculars handy though. Mercury and Jupiter will actually be shining very brightly, but there will be enough residual light from the sunset that you’ll probably need binoculars to catch their brief appearance.
Spotting Uranus is always a treat. The elusive gas giant will be three degrees from Venus, although you probably won’t be able to see it without binoculars—it’s very far away, after all. A telescope will remove all doubt.
An added cosmic bonus: star cluster M35
If you have binoculars and can tear your eyes away from the planets, look just to the left of Mars to catch sight of M35, a star cluster in the Gemini constellation.
M35 looks like a small star with the naked eye, but even a basic pair of binoculars will reveal something wonderful. Here’s how Garrett P. Serviss described M35 in his 1890 book Astronomy with an Opera Glass: “No one can gaze upon this marvelous phenomenon, even with the comparatively low powers of an opera-glass, and reflect that all these swarming dots of light are really suns, without a stunning sense of the immensity of the material universe.”
I feel you, Garrett.