A great planet drama takes place in the predawn sky in January, 2016. The planet Mercury will become visible before sunrise starting around January 20, to showcase all five visible planets in the same sky together for the first time since January, 2005.
Prior to that, you might spot Mercury in the west after sunset during the first several days of January – or if you’re a night owl, you might catch Jupiter rising above your eastern horizon at late evening. But this month’s planet parade is custom-designed for the morning person. Four planets adorn the morning sky throughout January, 2016. From around the world, Jupiter rises in the east at late evening, Mars rises next an hour or two after midnight, and then Venus and Saturn climb up above the southeast horizon pretty much concurrently about 2.5 hours before sunrise. Venus and Saturn team up to stage a particularly close planetary conjunction on January 9.
