'Parade Of Planets' Over Puget Sound: Forecast, How & When To Watch

WASHINGTON — A rare alignment of five planets is coming to a peak alongside a crescent moon in June, and the best time to view it is before 5 a.m. Friday.

The procession of planets — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, in that order — will be visible just above the eastern horizon during the hour or so before sunrise through the end of the month, according to AccuWeather.

Some good news if you’re putting skywatching on your overnight agenda: The AccuWeather forecast for Western Washington calls for clear skies throughout the night and into the early morning hours. In fact, according to the National Weather Service, clouds should be out of the picture for most until the middle of next week.

Best of all, the planetary alignment is visible without a telescope, though AccuWeather notes that Mercury may be hard to spot because it’s the dimmest of the planets and will be the lowest in the sky.

For the best chance to see all five planets, try to find a fairly flat open space without trees, buildings and mountains to get in the way.

The last time the five planets lined up was in 2004, and it won’t happen again until 2040, according to AccuWeather.

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