Particle.news
Download on the App Store
5 ARTICLES
·
4d ago

Six-Planet Parade Visible Before Dawn as Mercury Hits Greatest Elongation

A brief pre-dawn window lets observers spot six worlds along the ecliptic, with Uranus and Neptune requiring optics.

Image
Image
The morning sky of Tuesday August 19 features a rough lineup of several planets and the Moon. Credit: M. Bakich/TheSKY software
Four planets were visible in this photo taken in Yamaska, Que., during a planet parade in 2022. Another planet parade is happening this week.

Overview

  • Mercury reaches greatest western elongation on Tuesday, Aug. 19, briefly making it easier to join Venus, Jupiter and Saturn in a six-planet view with a waning crescent moon.
  • Look east about 45–60 minutes before sunrise from a location with a clear low horizon; Mercury will hug the horizon, and light pollution or clouds will quickly wash out the view.
  • The lineup peaks for photography on Wednesday, Aug. 20, when a slender crescent appears very close to Venus with Jupiter above, a trio that will not be this tight with bright star Pollux again until 2039.
  • Naked-eye planets are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn, while Uranus near the Pleiades and Neptune near Saturn are too faint to see without binoculars or a telescope.
  • This is the last multi-planet viewing opportunity of 2025, an optical effect of the ecliptic rather than a true alignment, with the next widely noted parade expected in October 2028.