This week, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars will accompany the moon for a morning stroll across the sky. If you’re an early riser, you’ll want to look to the southeast before sunrise — because the view you’ll take in to start your day will be remarkable.
The planetary congregation will be most appealing early Friday. An opportune time to look is around 6 a.m. local time. The waning crescent moon will lag behind the group, followed by Saturn, then Jupiter and finally nearby Mars flanking to the right.
If you own a powerful enough telescope, you’ll even be able to spot Saturn’s rings. Pluto will be in the mix as well, but being a dimply-lit dwarf planet 3.2 billion miles away, it will not be visible with the naked eye.
The spattering of celestial bodies will hang in the heavens each day this week, jockeying for position during their daily trek. By Friday, the moon will struggle to stay visible as it shrinks, vanishing entirely into early next week.
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Meanwhile, Jupiter and Mars will be closest to each other early Friday morning.
If you wake up early to check out the show, you’ll also have a chance to see Mercury. Because it’s the closest planet to the sun in our solar system, it only makes appearances around sunrise or sunset. This week, you’ll notice it in the eastern sky just barely above the horizon. The best time to look is 30 to 45 minutes before sunrise.
On Friday morning, find the path traced out by Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and the Moon. Then follow that path diagonally down and to the left. Eventually, you’ll find Mercury.
If you’re not a morning person, you still will have a chance to catch a planet. Venus will linger in the western sky after sunset for a few hours. It will do this through much of April, but will appear exceptionally bright this week. On the evening of March 28, Venus will casually sit next to the slender crescent moon.
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