How to see four planets at once in the Colorado sky this week

We’ve gotten through our cold/snowy stretch in Colorado, and the skies are clearing just in time to see something really neat!

In a semi-rare event, four planets will be visible to the naked eye over Colorado at the same time. In the first few hours after dark throughout January, Venus and Saturn will be visible in the southwest, with Jupiter overhead, and Mars in the east.

According to NASA, planets always appear along a line in the sky, and the “alignment” isn’t special. However, it is less common to see four or five bright planets at once.

For help location the “parade of planets,” check out Stellarium’s website, along with Time and Date’s Night Sky Map. Those should give you a good idea of where each planet is in relation to the others.