In an rare phenomenon called a planetary parade all seven planets will be visible from Earth this week – the first time since 1982.
Only Neptune and Uranus will need binoculars or a telescope, so regular stargazers will be able to spot Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn with the naked eye.
One award-winning astronomical photographer Josh Dury, is thought to be the first person to have ever captured them in one image from Earth.
Dubbed the “Starman”, Dury had to take nine images to reveal all planets, using multiple image analysis and astronomy apps to confirm the location.
He said: “As this was taken with a wide-angle lens, the nine images stitched to a panorama and a HDR blend of one of the frames to reveal Saturn, Neptune and Mercury. These three planets are not easy to see at all.”
The best way to spot them for yourself is to look for lights that shine steadily instead of twinkling like stars.
Venus will be the brightest high in the sky on the Western horizon, and below that is Mercury.
To see Saturn, which is below both Venus and Mercury, you need to keep an eye out at sunset. It drops below the horizon just a few minutes after the sun, so there’s a small window of time to see it before it disappears and the sky is dark enough.
Jupiter is the brightest star in the Orion constellation, which is in the east just above Rigel. If you look even further east, Mars will be visible.
Neptune and Uranus, the two planets which require bincoculars or a telescope, can be seen between Jupiter in the east and Venus in the west, and they shine slightly blue. Experts recommend using an app to find them.
The panorama of all seven planets by Josh Dury was taken from Somerset’s Mendip Hills on Saturday.
While images of all planets have been taken from space, such as by the spacecraft, Voyager, no one is thought to have achieved such an image from earth, according to the Royal Astronomical Society.
