Five planets will align tonight (Wednesday, January 20) and might be visible with the naked eye in the Cheshire skies before sunrise.
Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Mars and Jupiter will appear in a diagonal row, providing there are clear skies.
This is the first time the planets have appeared in the same sky together for over a decade, since the period between December 15, 2004 to January 15, 2005.
The five planets will appear above the horizon simultaneously in the early morning sky from about January 20 (Wednesday) to February 20, 2016.
Clear skies
Jean Smith, North Wales Astronomy Society (NWAS) secretary, said seeing the alignment in the region will depend on if the skies are clear.
She said: “Mercury may be too close to the sun to observe, while Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn could be seen in the early morning.
“If the skies are clear, you could possibly see them with the naked eye.
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“It depends where you are and if you’ve got a clear view of the sky towards the South East where the planets will align.”
Close eye
But you’ll need to keep a close eye on the weather to be in with a chance of seeing anything.
A MET office spokeswoman said: “It will be dry with clear spells for some of the night. But it might be a little cloudy and foggy later on. There is a possibility of rain by dawn.
“It’s a mixed night and may be possible to see the alignment depending where you are.”
It comes after Comet Catalina , officially named Comet C/2013 US10, flew over Earth on January 17.
It is so named because it was first observed and reported on Halloween night, 2013, at the Catalina Sky Survey Observatory just outside Tucson, Arizona, according to the website telescopes.com
