Four Planets Will Line Up in the Sky This Month. Here’s How to Spot Them

Skywatchers are in for a cosmic treat this month: a rare alignment of four planets in the predawn sky.

Beginning around Sunday morning, stargazers will be able to see Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn appear in a straight line across the southeastern sky before sunrise. The midmonth alignment is a relatively unusual opportunity for people to see multiple planets in the sky with the naked eye — and it's a prelude to an even rarer planetary alignment that will happen this summer.

To see the planetary quartet, skywatchers in the Northern Hemisphere should head outside about an hour before the sun comes up and gaze southeast, in the direction of the sunrise.

Looking east at a flat horizon, Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn will appear "strung out in a line across the morning sky," according to NASA. If conditions are clear, all four planets will be bright enough to see with the naked eye, without the aid of binoculars or telescopes.