Astronomy Professor Explains How to See 5 Planets in Early Morning Sky

To be able to admire this celestial parade of the five planets, go out around an hour before sunrise (around 6am) and look towards the southeast with a clear horizon. Look at the picture above for where to look and what planets are which.

Jupiter will appear first, followed by Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury.

The largest planet in the solar system, Jupiter, will start the show at approximately 9:30 pm, and it will be in the sky until 6:30 am in the early morning when Mercury will be all set to show up.

For the first time in 11 years, five planets have aligned in the morning sky.

The last time all 5 visible planets were together in the sky was from about December 15, 2004, to January 15, 2005. A telescope isn’t necessary, but if you have one, you can view the rings of Saturn as well as its brighter moons. I would advise students not to miss this opportunity and try joining the planets by an imaginary line. Once the sun is up, the planets will not be visible. The thin crescent from the almost new moon will be right next to Mercury and Venus just before sunrise. It is near Jupiter on the mornings of January 27th and 28th, Mars on February 1st, Saturn on February 3rd, Venus on February 5th, and above Mercury on February 6th. You don’t need a telescope or binoculars to see the five planets, but if you do you could see the rings around Saturn and the red surface of Mars. The Sun always lies on the ecliptic – and our Moon is never far from it either.

Jupiter is now rising in the early evening now and can be seen in the east starting about 10 p.m. Near dawn, it can be found high up in the southwest sky in the constellation Leo.

However, this predawn grouping of planets is not an “alignment” – they are not lined up outward from the Sun.