Planets

How to see the planets in the night sky March 2021. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to see the planets throughout March 2021

A view of Uranus captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2006. Credit: NASA/Space Telescope Science Institute

How was Uranus discovered?

A dark storm spotted on Neptune by the Hubble Space Telescope. Credit: NASA, ESA, STScI, M.H. Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and L.A. Sromovsky and P.M. Fry (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Eye On The Sky Strange dark storms spotted on planet Neptune

How to see the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 21 December 2020. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Great Conjunction See Jupiter and Saturn's planetary 'kiss', 21 December

Jupiter, Mars and Saturn imaged at ESO's La Silla Observatory in the Atacama desert. Credit: ESO

Eye On The Sky Jupiter, Mars, Saturn imaged at La Silla Observatory

How to see Uranus, Mars and the other planets in the night sky, November 2020

Observing guide How to see the planets in the night sky: November 2020

To locate Pluto you’ll need to record stars down to mag. +15.0 (see inset). Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to spot Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto in the night sky

How to the see planets in October 2020. Mars lies in Pisces throughout the opposition period. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to see the planets in the night sky, October 2020

Scientists have found similarities in the shapes of channels created on Mars (right) and those formed by glacier meltwater in Earth’s Arctic region (left). Credit: Cal-Tech CTX mosaic and MAXAR/Esri

Mars valleys may have been formed by melting glaciers

The orbital path of inferior planets. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine.

Inferior and superior planets: what’s the difference?

Þ During the course of September, Mars will appear to increase in size by about 22%. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to see the planets in the night sky, September 2020

Positioned on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, Jupiter is shown at opposition. Credit: Steve Marsh

What is opposition in astronomy?

Mars reaches its highest position for August at the month’s close. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to see the planets in the night sky, August 2020

A view of Saturn from above its north pole, made from 36 images obtained on 10 October 2013. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SSI/Cornell

A guide to the rings of Saturn

Saturn and Jupiter appear close together in the sky, and they are joined by a full Moon on 5 July 2020. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide How to see the planets in the night sky, July 2020