You last saw it a decade ago. Five planets lined up in the sky, all in a straight line.
But you can see this now, every night, till February 20. This is almost as spectacular as it gets – with Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all appearing to be threaded on a single, taut, invisible string. And it's all visible to the naked eye, with no telescopes required.
From January 20 till February 20, the planets can be observed in this formation. The best view will be available shortly before dawn. Visible from almost everywhere on earth, the configuration can be seen clearly around 5 am in Indian skies.
Amazingly, though, there's going to be an encore soon. If you hate waking up early, you'll just have to stay up late in August 2016, when the same alignment will be visible again, from the 13th of the month to the 19th, says a report in DNA, quoting Suhas Naik-Satam, programme coordinator (Scientific) of Nehru Planetarium.
If you have trouble spotting the stars, a star or an app will be handy. Jason Kendall, board member of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York, offers helpful tips on how to spot the planets in the video below:
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