Parade Of 6 Planets: Hype, Or Worth Getting Up Early To See In NJ?

Weather permitting, skywatchers in New Jersey may be able to see six of the eight planets as they align briefly in their elliptical path before sunup on Monday, June 3.

If you do get up early to see the alignment of Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn in the eastern sky, conditions in the area may be favorable, but there could be some clouds, according to The Weather Channel. Sunrise is around 5:30 a.m. local time on Monday.

Manage your expectations, advised Joe Rao, a veteran meteorologist and skywatching columnist for Space.com. Claims on social media of a rare celestial event are bloated, he wrote in a recent column.

The planets will align, but it will be difficult to see them all without high-powered binoculars or a telescope, according to Rao and other experts. Mercury and Jupiter will be so close to the sun that it may wash them out, and Uranus is difficult to see unless skies are very dark. And Neptune, the farthest planet from the sun, also is too faint to be seen with the naked eye, Rao wrote.

Saturn will rise in the east-southeast around 2 a.m. and hang fairly high in the sky, but the rings won’t be visible without a telescope, Rao said. Moonrise is around 3:20 a.m. Then, around 4 a.m., Mars will make an appearance

“So, if you step outside at around 3:30 or 4 a.m. on Monday morning, don’t expect to be awed by the sight of a planet parade,” Rao wrote. “What you will likely see is a crescent moon and a bright orange ‘star’ shining to its right (Mars) and farther off to the right will be another relatively bright ‘star’ glowing with a yellowish-white hue (Saturn).”

The planetary parade is a bit of a windup for a celestial alignment that should happen in the evening hours of Jan. 31 or Feb. 1 when four bright planets — Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars — and a crescent moon are visible.