Sky & Telescope proclaims that planets will align in June

 According to Sky & Telescope, stargazers around the world will witness a rare celestial treat in June. Just before the sun rises, five planets line up in rare conjunction in the night sky. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will stretch across the sky from deep in the east to higher in the south in that exact order. The conjunction of two or three planets together is a fairly common occurrence, but being able to see five at once is a rare occurrence.

The fact that these planets will be aligned in the same order as their distance from the sun makes this event even more special. Mercury will be difficult to spot earlier in the month: viewers will need an unobstructed view of its eastern horizon and may need binoculars to spot it. But as the month progresses, Mercury will climb higher and higher while also getting brighter in the dark skies. This will make it easier to spot it in the rare planet lineup. The last time such an event happened was in December 2004. But this time the distance between Mercury and Saturn is much shorter than the last time we could see five planets in the sky with the naked eye.

According to Sky & Telescope, the planetary lineup will be most compelling on June 24, when Mercury will be much easier to spot. Viewers also have about an hour to enjoy the conjunction between Mercury moving across the horizon and sunrise when it's too bright to see the planets. Interestingly, there will also be a waning crescent moon between Venus and Mars as the planets are spread further across the sky. If it is cloudy on June 24th, you can see the rare planetary conjunction on the other days of the month. All you have to do is get up early before the sun rises and have an unobstructed view of the horizon at the location where you wish to witness the great celestial event.

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