Five planets align across the early morning sky.

One of the great things about North Dakota, there are plenty of wide-open skies. Heck, if you're standing on top of the hill alongside New Salem Sue, I'd go as far as to say you can even see the bend of the earth a bit while scanning the horizon.

Best to get a little way out of town.

Light pollution is even a problem in North Dakota.  So if you want to see this every 20 years phenomenon in all its glory, stake out a spot on a country road. But most likely you'll be able to see it fine from where you are.  Unless you're surrounded by trees, then you may miss the lower positioned planets.  It's North Dakota, avoiding trees can't be that hard right?  Here's who you can expect to see lined up starting tomorrow morning

MERCURY

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VENUS

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MARS
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JUPITER
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SATURN
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AND HERE'S HOW THEY'LL APPEAR

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AccuWeather is reporting that Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are lining up in the pre-dawn sky, a planetary procession that could be seen above the eastern horizon every morning through the end of June.

The stellar lineup of planets will be best seen about 45-60 minutes before sunrise on cloud-free mornings.  So sunrise is pretty early so 5 AM is about the best time to catch a glimpse of them all.  Wednesday, June 24th is projected to be the best morning of the month. The problem could be with Mercury, the peskiest planet of them all.  Not only is Mercury a little fella, but it will appear on the lowest part of the horizon.

"seeing it requires an unimpeded view of the eastern horizon as trees, buildings and mountains all could potentially get in the way."

It's good news for North Dakotans that it's easy to find an area without trees, buildings, or mountains...you just need to be an earlier riser.  So this month, find a clear morning and go take a peek at the planets.


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