Michigan astronomy buffs: Save the date. On Feb. 28, seven planets will appear in the sky simultaneously.

Since January, astronomy fans have enjoyed a “parade” of six planets in the night sky. Four of them are visible to the naked eye — Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn — with Uranus and Neptune visible if you happen to have a high-power telescope sitting around.

Mercury will briefly join them on the last leg of the parade at the end of the month, but, like Uranus and Neptune, is also difficult to spot.

“Back in January, it wasn’t part of (the parade) because it’s too close to the sun to be able to be picked out, but now it’s moved in its orbit … so now you’ll be able to pick it out around dusk,” said Michael Narlock, head of astronomy at the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, Oakland County.

“Mercury will be visible probably from around five o’clock in the afternoon to just after seven o’clock,” Narlock said. “It’s gonna set around the same time that the sun does so you’ll need to have a telescope.”

When and where to look

Optimal viewing hours for the other planets in the parade are after sunset when it’s completely dark but it is dependent on where you are in the world. Tools like the science website Time and Date can be used to help you figure out when to look up.

The best view will be in rural areas away from city lights.

Out with the old and in with the new 

If you didn’t get a chance to see Saturn earlier this year, you probably won’t get the best view now.

“It is visible-ish, it’s just going to be very faint,” Narlock said.  “The biggest problem is when people want to look at Saturn they want to see the rings. Well, the Earth is pretty much crossing the ring plane right now … so you really won’t get a good view.”

This article is being republished through a syndication agreement with Bridge Michigan. Bridge Michigan is Michigan’s largest nonprofit news service and one of the nation’s leading and largest nonprofit civic news providers. Their coverage is nonpartisan, fact-based, and data-driven. Find them online at https://www.bridgemi.com/.