See 5 Planets in the Morning Sky

Five Planets in the Morning

The five naked-eye planets are all visible to us in the pre-dawn sky. Four of them are easy targets, with bright Venus and Jupiter in the east and west, and red-orange Mars and off-white Saturn filling in the arc across the southern sky, as neatly outlined in the image from Sky & Telescope. The challenge will be for viewers to find fleet-footed Mercury as it moves in retrograde into view low in the southeast 45 minutes before sunrise. Mercury is a fairly unremarkable pinprick of light and is tougher still because of its proximity to the horizon and the light of dawn. But take the challenge and try to find this little gem that rounds out a massive arc from west to east for the next few days.

Mercury will fade from view fairly quickly at the end of January but the other four planets will shine brightly for the next few months in their current positions.

You'll want a clear southern horizon to see this lineup at its best. Look 30 to 60 minutes before sunrise. At present, sunrise in San Francisco is at 7:20 am.

You can read much more in this write-up from Sky & Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/observing-news/get-up-early-see-five-planets-at-once-01182015/