Rare Five-Planet Alignment Treat for Early Risers This Week

Break out the strong coffee and become a morning person this week because there’s a celestial treat in store for you. A rare five-planet alignment will be happening just before dawn. And the best part is all the planets can be seen with the naked eye!

It’s easy to see two, even three planets during the course of the year. Bright Venus is either our morning or evening star, depending on the time of the year. Saturn and Jupiter are two other planets that are easy to spot. But being able to see five planets in a row…well that’s not usual! The last time this kind of alignment occurred was 1864. And this week you not only get the planets but the Moon joins the parade, too.

Sunrise is at 6:34 AM this week so head outside around forty-five minutes to a half hour before then (first light happens at 6:09 AM so it won’t be totally dark for long). An unobstructed view of the eastern and southern horizons is best for this viewing. The five planets will stretch across an arc about halfway across the sky from east-northeast to just about due south. Starting from the left is  Mercury, very low and closest to the horizon. Then Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Mars and Jupiter are at the top of the arc with Saturn curving back down.

What makes this even more interesting is that the planets appear in the same order as they are in their respective orbits around the sun.

Since Saturn is the planet on the right side of the arc, that is the one that crosses the horizon first in the middle of the night. It continues moving upwards in the sky when Jupiter comes into view. Next up and following closely behind Jupiter is Mars. Venus comes next and will be easy to spot as it shines brightly just before the sun comes up (hence being known this time of year as the ‘morning star’). Mercury is the last one to peek over the horizon before being lost in the glow of sunrise. The waning crescent moon can be seen between Mars and Venus between June 23rd and June 25th.

With all these planets being seen at the same time, you can catch what makes each so unique. Saturn looks yellow-white while Mars has that distinctive orange-yellow coloring. Jupiter is the brightest until Venus appears and outshines it. Mercury is a whitish gray and will fade quickly from view as the sky lightens.

But don’t stop at the planets - there’s even more to see this week. Continue your early morning star gazing by coming out around one hour before sunrise on June 25th and the 26th. Just to the left of the slender crescent moon, and just above bright Venus, you’ll see the Pleiades star cluster. The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, sits in the constellation of Taurus. It is often described as a smaller, hazier version of the Big Dipper. It consists of more than 800 stars and is 410 light-years from Earth.

Switch your nighttime stargazing habit and plan for an early start to your day for this extraordinary planetary alignment. And as always, keep looking up!