All the classical planets align under one sky this week

For the first time in more than a decade, all five of the visible planets will be making an appearance together, starting from January 20 to February 20.

Last time the planets were seen lined up was between mid-December 2004 and mid-January 2005.

All that is needed to capture the cosmic event is a telescope, or binoculars, plus some guidance on where to get the best view. Any earlier, Mercury will be low on the horizon.

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be prominent in clear skies until about mid-February. “Mercury is a bit more hard to see because it’s always close to the sun and it only rises just before dawn”, Christie said.

For the next month or so, five planets will be visible to the naked eye at the same time. In that phase, it will shift from the west-northwest to east-southeast and will be visible near the five planets and some stars.

WE’VE seen the scenario in several sci-fi films-Tomb Raider, Pitch Black, or The Dark Crystal-the planets are about to align and cause something wonderful to happen, so are we in trouble now? However, according to NASA, Mercury and Venus won’t be easily visible from northern latitudes.

The moon will also be visible around the planets at various points.

In this case they are positioned on their orbits in such a way that they form an arc across the same portion of sky.

Venus will be the brightest and appear completely white, while Mars will be slightly reddish. Shining at magnitude -2.3, Jupiter stands out even in the presence of our satellite, though it grows more conspicuous as the Moon moves over the next several nights.

Towards the end of January, the waning Moon will also enter the scene, which could prove useful for helping identify the planets.

In the night sky in 2011 over ESO’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) observatory at Paranal, the Moon shines along with two bright companions: Venus and Jupiter. If you want something bigger to look forward to, you can wait till May of 2161 – that’s when all eight of Earth’s fellow solar system planets (as they are listed for now) will draw a specular line in the sky.

Skywatchers are advised to look for the spectacle away from light pollution, with rural areas ideal.