How to see Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn in rare conjunction this weekend

A trio of planets make an appearance at dusk this weekend when Jupiter and Saturn, still chilling together at last month’s after-party. rare grand conjunction, will be joined just above the western horizon to the southwest by the more fickle planet Mercury. The planetary trio is a rare sight that can be witnessed with the naked eye just after sunset for the next few days, but Saturday night offers perhaps the best opportunity to see all three worlds grouped together.

Astronomy magazine reports that all the planets will be visible within an area about 2.3 degrees wide that night (that’s about the width of your little and ring fingers together when they are apart from your body with your arm extended). Mercury will be the lowest of the three in the sky, Jupiter will be the brightest, and Saturn will be the dimmest.

Binoculars can help you get a better view, while even a cheap garden telescope can offer a chance to catch a glimpse of some of Jupiter’s largest moons. This might be good to try when Mercury and Saturn have disappeared below the horizon and it’s a little darker.

To make sure you catch the entire trio, the key is to get out just after the sun goes down, as Mercury and Saturn will quickly dive below the horizon within an hour. While the planets may be closer on Saturday, they’ll continue to congregate as they drift for the next few nights, so you have a few chances to catch them all as some kind of cosmic Pokemon game.

As always, if the amateur astrophotographers among you take any great pictures of the celestial gathering, please share them with me on Twitter. @EricCMack.

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