Even if you don’t have any special equipment, you can spot Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and (a weak) Mercury in the coming days. Uranus and even Neptune can also be seen, but at least you need a small telescope for that. “The other four can really be observed with the naked eye,” says Werner Hamelinck of the Flemish Volksstenwacht Urania.
Earlier this week, Jupiter and Venus passed just past each other and in the coming days they will still be in each other’s neighborhood in the eastern sky. Mercury will be rid of the sun next Tuesday, making the planet easier to see before it disappears into the bright sunlight.
For sunrise
To see the planets, look to the east in the morning before sunrise. “Some have come up earlier, but around 5.00 am they are all visible,” says Hamelinck. A good tip: first try to find Jupiter and Venus: that is the easiest, since they are so close together. Saturn is in the southwest and Mercury is close to the horizon. “So you will have to find a good place for that,” said Hamelinck. “In a city with tall buildings it will be much harder to find.”
For the more gifted enthusiast: Neptune is close to Saturn and Uranus and you will find in the southeast. Mars can also be spotted these days, but then in the evening and not at the same time with the other planets.