Tonight, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will be visible near the western horizon.

Tonight, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will be visible near the western horizon.

You don't need a telescope to see this one!
Tonight, Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter will be visible near the western horizon.
They'll be within 2.5 degrees of each other -- the closest that three planets will get to one another for the next 13 years!
Viewing is best 30 - 45 minutes after sunset. 
If you miss it tonight, do not fear -- the trio will remain within 5 degrees of each other through Tuesday.
If you have binoculars or a small telescope, you should also be able to see Jupiter's four large moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.

At the same time on the opposite side of the sky, but not as close to the horizon, you should also be able to see Saturn, and if assisted by a small telescope, its large moon Titan.

Finally, if you wait for about an hour (on Sunday, later on Monday and Tuesday), our moon, nearly full, will rise in the east.

Altogether, that's four of the five naked-eye planets, and if assisted by a small telescope, six of solar system's seven large moons.
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Plan your planet conjunction watch

Here are some key local dates of events for skywatchers viewing at dusk in North America. You can see a video of the three planets' path here as they move across the night sky.
May 24: 
Mercury appears 1.4 degrees above Venus; Jupiter sits 4 degrees to their upper left.

May 26: 
This is the evening that the planet trio is tightest together — all three fit within a circle less than 2.5 degrees wide. They form a triangle with Mercury at the top, Jupiter at the lower left corner and Venus at the lower right. The Venus-Jupiter and Venus-Mercury gaps are both almost exactly 2 degrees. And Mercury is in conjunction with Jupiter, the pair separated by 2.4 degrees.

May 28: 
The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter are closest together, separated by just one degree (equal to the apparent width of two full moons). In the days leading up to now, Jupiter closes in on Venus from the upper left. This evening, Jupiter appears below and to the left of Venus and in the evenings that follow, then heads on down toward the glow of sunset. Jupiter's brightness easily rivals Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, yet shines only one-sixth as bright as Venus. Even though Jupiter is on the far side of the sun and about as small as it ever appears, in a telescope it still shows the largest disk of any planet. Meanwhile, Mercury shines more than 3.5 degrees above Jupiter.      


May 31: The three planets are now separating and going their separate ways; Jupiter sinking lower while Venus and Mercury edge higher up. All three are now stretched out and equally spaced in a diagonal line from upper left to lower right, spanning 8 degrees. Mercury is the highest, Venus is in the middle and Jupiter is down at the lower right.