Illustration that shows the location of the five brightest planets in the early morning of January 20, 2016. [Stellarium]
Illustration that shows the location of the five brightest planets in the early morning of January 20, 2016. [Stellarium]
For the first time in over a decade, you will be seeing five brightest planets – Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter – aligned in the morning sky. Since the early of this month, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, and Venus have been up there together and now they will be accompanied by Mercury from about January 20 to February 20.

These five brightest planets will be lined up diagonally from left to right, and will be like this: Mercury > Venus > Saturn > Mars > Jupiter, reports USA Today. While the distant Uranus, Neptune and Pluto won’t be in on this rare celestial show, Neptune and Pluto can be seen with a telescope; and Uranus, with a sharp eye in a dark sky.

As per EarthSky report, all five planets will be visible simultaneously before dawn. So if you’re not a morning person, you will miss this rare planetary treat. The next planetary alignment is predicted to happen in the night sky from August 13 to 19 , but they won’t be lined up; and Mercury and Venus will sit low and not be easily seen from the northern hemisphere.

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