Rare Planetary Alignment Over Arizona Worth Getting Up Early To See

ARIZONA — Five planets will come into peak alignment in skies over Arizona later this week, following the summer solstice, in a rare event that won't happen again for many years.

If you plan to take a gander at the heavens this weekend, the weather forecast in Phoenix is for possible thunderstorms Thursday and Friday with cloudy skies on Saturday. Thunderstorms are possible every day in Tucson this week as well.

The procession of planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, in that order — will be visible just above the eastern horizon during an hour or so before sunrise through the end of the month, according to AccuWeather.

The best date to mark is before 5 a.m. local time on June 24, when a crescent moon joins the planetary parade.

Best of all, the planetary alignment is visible without a telescope, though AccuWeather notes that Mercury may be hard to spot because it’s the dimmest of the planets and will be the lowest in the sky.

For the best chances to see all five planets, try to find a fairly flat open space without trees, buildings and mountains to get in the way.

The last time the five planets lined up was in 2004, and it won’t happen again until 2040, according to AccuWeather.

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