(WJW) — Look out the window Tuesday night! Five planets could be visible March 28, including Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Uranus.
Venus and Mars will be the easiest to identify. Venus will be the biggest and brightest and will be located west after sunset while Mars will appear bright red and high in the southwest sky.
Jupiter, the second brightest planet, won’t be as easy to spot. It was higher in the sky earlier this month but has been slowly descending. To view Jupiter, you’ll need to have a clear and unobstructed view of the western horizon. Mercury will be close to Jupiter.
An Ohio astronomer, Jay Reynolds, told Nexstar’s WJW that March and April are the best times of year to easily see Mercury.
Uranus might be the most difficult to identify without a telescope. It will appear faint, looking very similar to a star.
“(Uranus) is too dim and the Sun is too bright in the Western sky to easily be seen. If you have good telescope skills, then you have a crack at seeing it but, the view is going to look poor,” Reynolds said.
You might be able to see Mercury as well, but Reynolds said it’s not the most impressive compared to the others.
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“It’s all in how the Western sky is tilted nearly straight up and down in the springtime that we can best see mercury. Even when you see it, it’s not impressive. The only reason to look is so that you can say, ‘I’ve seen Mercury,'” Reynolds said.
Reynolds said around 7-8 p.m. will be the best time to catch these planets in the sky.
If you miss the show, there are two more opportunities to catch a good view.
On Thursday, Venus and Uranus will be next to each other and starting Friday, Mercury will become the most viewable planet in the sky as Jupiter disappears in the glare of the Sun.
KARK’s Julianna Cullen contributed to this report.
