Parade of planets this week, will be visible in skies from India

Days after the rare conjunction of the Moon and Venus, which appeared like a Chandrabindoo, four other planets are set to cross paths in the skies above Earth this week.

The five planets that will line up near the moon are Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, and Mars. The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky. Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip below the horizon around half an hour after sunset, which could be seen around 7:30 p.m. in the evening sky.

The five-planet spread can be seen anywhere on Earth, as long as the sky is clear.

Jupiter, Venus, and Mars will be pretty easy to see since they shine brightly. But Venus will be one of the brightest things in the sky, and Mars will be hanging out near the moon with a reddish glow. Mercury and Uranus could be harder to spot since they will be dimmer; probably a pair of binoculars could help.

Different numbers and groups of planets line up in the sky from time to time. There was a five-planet line-up last summer, and there’s another one in June with a slightly different makeup.

This kind of alignment happens when the planets’ orbits line them up on one side of the sun from Earth’s perspective.