(WJW) — Look out the window tonight! Five planets will be visible Tuesday, including Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Uranus.
Venus and Mars will be the easiest to identify. Venus will be the biggest and brightest planet in the sky and will be located west after sunset.
Mars will look bright red and be high in the southwest sky.
Jupiter, the second brightest planet, won’t be as easy to spot. Jupiter was high in the sky earlier this month but has been slowly descending. To view Jupiter, you’ll need to have a clear and obstruction-free view of the western horizon. Mercury will also be close to Jupiter.
Local Astronomer Jay Reynolds said that March and April are the best time of year to easily see Mercury.
Uranus might be the most difficult to identify without a telescope. It will appear faint, looking very similar to a star.
“(Uranus) is too dim and the Sun is too bright in the Western sky to easily be seen. If you have good telescope skills, then you have a crack at seeing it but, the view is going to look poor,” Reynolds said.
You might be able to see Mercury as well, but Reynolds said it’s not the most impressive compared to the others.
“It’s all in how the Western sky is tilted nearly straight up and down in the springtime that we can best see mercury. Even when you see it, it’s not impressive. The only reason to look is so that you can say, ‘I’ve seen Mercury,'” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said around 7-8 p.m. will be the best time to catch these planets in the sky.
