Here’s How You Can See FIVE Planets Without a Telescope This Weekend

If you’re able to rouse yourself out of bed early Sunday morning, go outside, and crane your head up, you’ll be rewarded with an impressive sight. A majority of the planets in our solar system will be visible in the night sky. And you won’t even need a telescope to check them out.

Look southwest and you’ll see Jupiter sinking with Saturn just above and to the right. Mars will be high above the southeastern horizon while to the northeast, Venus — still close to its brightest point — will also be easily spotted.

The trickiest planet to find will be Mercury. In New York, it will rise in the northeast just 45 minutes before sunrise. To figure out where and when to see it from your location, use this tool. Once you know where it is, you might be able to make it out with the naked eye but it will be much easier if you have a pair of binoculars, as it will appear less bright than the other planets.

The sixth planet you’ll be able to see? Earth, the planet you’re currently on unless you’re in the International Space Station, in which case you still have a great view.

Alas, that means Uranus and Neptune — the two planets furthest from the sun — are the only two you won’t be able to see with the naked eye this weekend, but if you decide to pull out the telescope your kids can say that you saw every planet in the solar system in one night, which is a pretty damn cool experience for a young stargazer.