GREENSBORO, N.C. — The planets are aligning above our heads, all you have to do is get up early and take a look to see it happen!
Throughout the month of June, the five planets of Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus, and Mercury have become visible in the morning sky just before sunrise. They're aligned diagonally, stretching from the low eastern horizon to the higher southeast sky. The moon is visible in the middle, closest to Mars.
HOW TO SEE:
To get a good view, you'll need to wake up early. The best view will be between 5am and 5:45am. Sunrise is around 6am this time of year, making the sky much too bright to see the planets by that time.
The easiest planets to see are Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. They are the brightest and also the farthest away from the rising sun. Farther east, you have Venus, which is still fairly easy to spot. Mercury is the toughest, being closest to the sunrise and also one of the faintest. You may want to use an app like SkyViewFree to help you locate this planet low on the horizon.
Over the next few weeks, the planets will "break up". They all travel at different speeds and in different orbits, so they are in the process of spreading apart from our perspective. So, if you look up in a few weeks you'll notice that Saturn is even farther to the south, and the alignment isn't what it was.
Take advantage of the viewing opportunity while we have it!