Visible Planet Line-up, August, 2016
This line-up of all five naked-eye planets was visible approximately 30 minutes after sunset (at the end of civil twilight), between August 3rd and August 24th 2016.
Upcoming Astronomical Observing at Griffith Observatory
All Five Naked-Eye Planets Line Up in the Evening Sky
This video shows the changing arrangement of the planets through the month of August.
All five naked-eye planets will be visible approximately 30 minutes after sunset (at the end of civil twilight), between August 3rd and August 24th. Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will be grouped together low in the west, and Saturn is paired with Mars in the southwest. The moon can be seen at the same time as the planets between the 3rd and the 18th. It passes near Mercury and Venus on the 4th, Jupiter on the 5th, and is near both Mars and Saturn on the 15th.
The brightest planet is Venus. Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury are fainter, but still as bright as bright stars, and they have their own distinctive colors. Mars is orange, Saturn is golden, and Mercury is white.
This is only the second time since January, 2005, that all five naked-eye planets have been visible together. The next opportunity for a planet line-up will happen before sunrise in mid-July, 2020.