How It's Used

“For the next few weeks, all five of the naked-eye planets, those visible without the aid of a telescope, will be visible soon after sunset. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter will be arranged in a line stretching from the western horizon to high in the eastern sky.”—Paul Taylor, “Moon to spotlight rare procession of five planets: No telescopes will be needed as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter line up,” The Globe and Mail (Canada), March 22, 2004, p. A12.“All five of the naked-eye planets—Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn—celebrate the start of Earth's new year by making appearances. "The ever-effervescent Venus rises with Mercury just before dawn in the early days of January. Look to the southeastern sky before sunrise to catch the bright Venus (negative third magnitude, very bright) and the fleet Mercury (zero magnitude, bright). You'll have to find a place with a good horizon because they are low in the sky. In fact, their planetary companionship is short-lived, since they both retreat into the eastern horizon in the middle of the month. "As dim as it is, Mars ascends the east-northeast at about 5 a.m. now. The faint red planet, at first magnitude, remains low in the southern morning sky through January. "For sheer visual joy, catch the giant planets Saturn and Jupiter in the evening and late night. The ringed planet climbs the east-northeastern heavens before 7 p.m. now. It can be found hanging out in the Gemini constellation, along the shores of the Milky Way. (You will need a very dark sky to discern the faint glow of the Milky Way.) In two weeks, Saturn rises in the east-northeast at dusk. This zero magnitude planet, bright, pulls an all-nighter throughout January.”—Blaine P. Friedlander Jr., “For New Year, a Fairly New Comet,” The Washington Post, January 1, 2005, p. B08.“According to many faiths, there are seven heavens, corresponding to the seven heavenly bodies (earth, the sun and the five 'naked eye' planets).”

—Simon Usborne, “Seventy-seven things you need to know about 7,” The Independent on Sunday (UK), December 31, 2006.

“Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun and of the five naked eye planets the one that we see least often.”—Michael J. Hendrie, “Shy Mercury shines in twilight,” The Times (UK), April 30, 2007.“The month that has our shortest nights also brings opportunities to spot all five naked eye planets. Three of them, Mercury, Venus and Saturn, are aligned in our W[est] evening twilight at present, while Jupiter is conspicuous at opposition and Mars glimmers low down and reddish in the E[ast] before dawn. The Red Planet rises more than two hours before the Sun on the 1st and three hours before sunrise on the 30th, shining at mag 0.8 as it tracks eastwards against the stars of Pisces.”—Alan Pickup, “Starwatch,” The Guardian (UK), May 28, 2007.

Links

Related on eAlmanac
The Nine Planets

Beyond eAlmanac
Wikipedia article on the "naked eye in Astronomy"
YouTube video of the "Naked Eye Planets" in the night sky from July, 2010
"Naked Eye Planets in the Night Sky" website