Rare Planetary Alignment Observable With Naked Eye Through July

Amateur astronomers are going to see something incredible over the next few days, as a rare alignment of five planets and the moon is currently occurring and can be viewed with the naked eye.

According to Accuweather, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be completely visible in the early morning over the horizon. It’s recommended those interested arrive at their viewpoint about 45 minutes to an hour before sunrise.

NASA showed off a photo of the alignment, and while it may just look like a few dots in the sky, knowing those dots are massive planets all different distances away is pretty amazing. The moon was aligned with these planets only once more more in the morning of Friday, June 24.

This phenomenon reportedly won’t be occurring for another decade until 2040, and the last time this happened was a long time ago in 1864. Due to its proximity to the horizon, experts warn that Mercury may not be visible to the naked eye if you go looking, but you’ll still likely get the best glimpses of Mars, Saturn and Jupiter.

If you don’t have time to spot this five-planet alignment but don’t mind missing out on one, you will still be able to see all planets besides Mercury in the morning sky throughout the whole month of July as well.