A morning person’s guide to the five visible planets

By ELLIS KNOX reporter@campcountynow.com

If you’re a morning person, you’re in luck. An opportunity is here to see all five visible planets simultaneously. All five visible planets will appear above the horizon in the predawn/dawn sky from about Jan. 20 to Feb. 20, 2016. The reference “visible planet” is any planet in the solar system that is easily viewed without binoculars or telescope. These are planets that have been watched by our ancestors since time immemorial. Planets were referred to in antiquity as wandering stars as in Jude13. In their outward order from the sun, the five visible planets are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. These planets are visible in our sky because their disks reflect sunlight, and these relatively nearby worlds tend to shine with a steadier light than the distant, twinkling stars. The last time that all five visible planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, appeared in the same sky together was over 10 years ago, from December 15, 2004, to January 15, 2005. The next presentation will happen again for about a month, starting around January 20, 2016.

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