It’s time for stargazers to rejoice! According to Sky & Telescope, if a person has a telescope or binoculars, he/she will be able to catch a rare treat this month as five planets will appear in the night sky aligned in rare conjunction. The planets Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Saturn will appear in the southern sky from early June until the end of the month.
Although it is fairly common for two or three planets to appear together, this occurrence is rare as five planets are aligning and is even more special due to the way the planets will be aligned. One of the planets that will be hard to spot early in the month is Mercury. Since it will be in the same position as the sun, viewers will need to have an unobstructed view of the eastern horizon to catch a glimpse of it.
Throughout the month, Mercury will continue to rise in the southern sky, getting brighter and making it easier to spot in the night sky. This will also make it possible to see the rare planetary lineup that last time happened in December of 2004. But this time the gap between Jupiter and Venus and between Mars and Jupiter is shorter than the last time, making it easy to easily all in one glance.
The Sky & Telescope website states that on June 24, the appearance of the planetary line-up will be most appealing as the Mercury will be easier to spot due to its position. During this time, viewers will also have the opportunity to enjoy the conjunction between the two planets and the sunrise. Also, due to the spread of Jupiter and Venus across the sky, a crescent moon will appear between Mars and Venus.