How to read the list
For each planet the tool gives the part of the night when it can be seen from your place, the best moment, and where to look at that moment: the height above the horizon in degrees and the compass direction. A fist held at arm’s length covers about 10° of sky, which helps to judge a height of 20° or 40°.
The brightness is a magnitude, the astronomers’ scale on which smaller numbers mean brighter objects. Venus reaches −4.7, Jupiter about −2.5, and the faintest stars visible from a city are around magnitude 3. The constellation tells you which stars surround the planet tonight.
What “visible” means here
A planet is listed as visible when two conditions hold at the same time, somewhere between sunset and sunrise:
- The sky is dark enough. Venus shows as soon as the Sun is 3° below the horizon, Jupiter at 5°, Mercury at 6°, Mars and Saturn at 8°. Uranus and Neptune need full night.
- The planet is high enough. At least 5° for Venus and Mercury, 8° for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, to clear the haze near the horizon.
These thresholds describe a clear sky and an open horizon. A hill, a row of buildings or mist can hide a planet that the tool lists as visible low in the sky. A planet shown as not visible is either too close to the Sun, in which case the tool gives the angle between them, or up only in daylight or twilight.
Evening star, morning star
Venus and Mercury circle the Sun inside the Earth’s orbit, so they never appear in the middle of the night. They are seen either after sunset in the west or before sunrise in the east. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen at any hour. Each is at its best around opposition, when the Earth passes between it and the Sun: the planet then rises at sunset, stays up all night and is at its brightest.
Why the place matters
The planets are in the same constellations for everyone on Earth, but your latitude changes how high they climb and your longitude changes the clock time. From the southern hemisphere the same planets are seen toward the north, with the whole scene upside down compared with a northern view. The tool recomputes everything for the place shown above the list.
Questions and answers
Which planets can be seen with the naked eye?
Five: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Venus and Jupiter are brighter than any star. Uranus is at the limit of the eye under a very dark sky and Neptune always needs binoculars or a telescope.
How do I tell a planet from a star?
A planet shines with a steady light, while stars twinkle, especially low in the sky. Planets also stay close to the path that the Sun and the Moon follow across the sky. And they are usually among the first points of light to appear at dusk.
What is the bright star next to the Moon tonight?
Very often a planet. The Moon follows almost the same path as the planets and passes each of them once a month. If the point is very bright and does not twinkle, look in the list above for a planet in the same direction.
Why can't I see Mercury?
Mercury never strays more than 28° from the Sun. It only shows for a few evenings or mornings in a row, low on the horizon in the twilight. The tool lists it only when it stands at least 5° high while the sky is dark enough.
Do I need a telescope?
Not to find the planets. Binoculars held steady show the four large moons of Jupiter. A small telescope with a magnification of 50 shows the rings of Saturn, the cloud bands of Jupiter and the phases of Venus.
Updated November 11, 2026