Rare sight for amateur astronomers as five planets align

The five planets are visible to the naked eye in order of their distance from the sun.

If you can see the horizon to the east and south-east, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can all be seen before sunrise.

It is not uncommon to see two or three planets close together, but the five that can be seen with the naked eye have not appeared in order since December 2004.

Prof Beth Biller is the personal chair of exoplanet characterisation at Edinburgh University. This is a rare opportunity to see the same thing, with all five planets in our solar system visible at the same time.

When viewed from Earth, the planets of the solar system appear to lie close to an imaginary line in the sky called the ecliptic. The five planets will rise above the horizon in the early hours of Friday, but it may be hard to see them all until later in the month.

Dr Greg Brown said Venus and Jupiter would be the easiest to see in the early hours of the morning.

Mars will become difficult to see at twilight as it rises above the horizon at about 1.30am. It will be hard to see Mercury in the pre-dawn light, as it only rises at 4.30am, and will stay close to the horizon.

The only chance to see all five planets at the same time is during a very narrow window after Mercury has risen.

A pair of binoculars or a telescope may be enough to see the fainter planets in the evening, but be careful when looking at Mercury in this way. If you look directly at the sun, it would be very dangerous for your eyes.

Mercury will rise in the sky in June and be easier to spot. On 24 June, the five planets will be joined by a crescent moon between Venus and Mars, making for an extraordinary scene, according to Dr Sam Rolfe, the principal technical officer at the University of Hertfordshire's observatory. Rolfe recommends using an app to find Mercury's position in the sky because it will be so faint.

If you don't have a telescope or binoculars, just enjoy the sight from wherever you can, even if you can't see all five from your location.

It is amazing to know that so many people are looking up at the same sky as our ancestors did. It will be worth getting up for if the weather forecast is clear or partially clear.