(WHSV) - Five planets will align up in the sky this week plus the Moon hangs out with another planet!

THE MOON AND MARS

On Monday evening in the western sky, the Moon will be shining a palm’s width to the lower right of Mars. The two will set together in the western sky during the overnight hours. The two will get close enough to each other to share a view in binoculars.

FIVE PLANETS ALIGN IN THE SKY

This week, five planets and the Moon will align in the sky creating a great landscape view of the five planets and the Moon. On Monday through Wednesday evening in the west-southwestern sky, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, and the Moon will all be aligned. You’ll want to look to the west-southwest immediately after sunset as this viewing will be in a very tight window, only about 45 minutes as Mercury and Jupiter set just before 8:30 pm. Mercury and Jupiter will be on the horizon, while the Moon, Venus, Mars, and Uranus will be in the lower half of the sky. Mercury and Uranus are very hard to see with the naked eye, so you’ll need a pair of wide-view binoculars to likely see the alignment.

The days to really see this is Monday through Wednesday evening. The best evening to view this in our area will be Monday evening as we should have ideal viewing conditions. Tuesday night skies will be completely cloudy so it will not be viewable. Wednesday night, we are looking at partly cloudy skies. Ideally, you want a clear night to view them all together.

GAINING DAYLIGHT

This week, we will gain another 18 minutes of daylight. By April 3rd, we will have 12 hours and 43 minutes of daylight and 11 hours and 17 minutes of nighttime. On April 2nd, sunrises will move back before 7 am and stay before that time until September 19th. Sunrises will move from 7:08 am to 6:57 am while sunsets will move from 7:33 pm to 7:40 pm.

Daily Sunrise/Sunset Times this week:

ISS VIEWING (MOST VIEWABLE)

NEXT MOON PHASES

CURRENT PLANET VIEWING OPPORTUNITIES

Venus: In the western sky at sunset, sets after 10:30 pm in the west

Mars: In the south-southwestern sky at sunset, visible most of the night, sets in the northwest around 2:30 am

Jupiter: In the western sky at sunset, very limited viewing, sets around 8:15 pm in the west

Saturn: Not in the sky at sunset, limited viewing, rises in the sky before 6 am in the east-southeastern sky

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