planets
five planets are visible to the unaided eye: mercury, venus, mars, jupiter, and saturn. each have unique traits which will assist with identification.
mercury
due to mercury's close orbit to the sun mercury will always appear in the east just before sunrise, or in the west just after sunset. mercury will never stray too far from the horizon.
venus
left. after the moon venus is easily the brightest object in earth's night's sky. like mercury, this planet is usually caught around dusk and dawn.
mars
to the right. mars comes into opposition with earth every 25 months. this is when mars is at its brightest. a calendar can be found on the links and sources page.
jupiter
left. is the 2nd brightest planet, but its size is 2nd to none. jupiter has a solar orbit of 12 earth years. when it is on our side of the sun take advantage.
saturn
on the right. saturn is the furthest planet that can be seen by the naked eye and may be difficult to find as it is often less bright than many stars. utilize the free software on the tools page to locate it.
