Planets

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

Observing guide See the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, 21 December 2020

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

Venus in the Pleiades

Astrophotography

Photographing the ring of Venus

Mars will appear closest to Neptune on 13 June in the morning sky. Credit: Pete Lawrence

See Mars and Neptune together in the early morning sky

Jupiter and Saturn will be worth keeping an eye out for in June 2020. Position of stars relative to horizon is correct for 04:00 BST on 1 June, 03:00BST on 15 June and 02:00 BST on 30 June. Credit: Pete Lawrence

Observing guide See the planets in the night sky this month