View Parade Of 5 Planets In NJ Skies Tuesday Night

NEW JERSEY — A rare planetary parade will delight stargazers around New Jersey Tuesday night, with a crescent moon and a star cluster making a splendid display in the early spring sky.

Tuesday is the best night to see it in New Jersey, though it will be visible several days after. Right now, meteorologists see a chance for showers Tuesday night into early Wednesday according to the National Weather Service.

The weather will be mostly cloudy in the evening, turning to partly cloudy later tonight in NJ's northern counties according to the NWS. Central NJ counties have partly cloudy skies, forecasters say. Residents of coastal counties and southern counties closer to Philadelphia will have mostly cloudy skies that will dissipate slightly overnight.

The alignment — led by the star cluster Messier 35 from the left, followed by Mars, the moon, Uranus, Venus, Jupiter and Mercury — starts about 20 minutes after sunset — click here to see when that is in your neighborhood.

If Mother Nature cooperates and lets you see the show, here's what to expect:

The five planets will gather within a small 50-degree sky sector, according to Star Walk. Jupiter and Mercury will be separated by about a degree near the horizon, located in the constellation Pisces.

Venus will shine brightly in Aries a bit higher up, and Uranus is visible two degrees away.

Mars joins the alignment closer to the Moon, in the constellation Gemini.

Timing is everything. Venus doesn’t set until about 10:15 p.m. local time, but the views of Jupiter and Mercury are fleeting. “It will be important to catch them as soon as possible, before they disappear over the western horizon,” the Farmers’ Almanac wrote, adding the plants appear “to chase after the Sun.”

The planetary parade is a pretty big deal for folks fascinated by what goes on in the heavens.

Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin tweeted about it. “Don’t forget to look to the sky the end of the month for the planetary alignment, which will have at least five planets — plus the moon — all visible in almost an arc shape as seen from Earth.”

“I love that a guy who walked on the moon still looks up at the night sky and says, “Wow, that’s really cool,” one person said in response to Aldrin’s tweet.

One user pointed out that, technically, the alignment includes six planets, tweeting, “Everyone forgets to count Earth.”

“You just have to look down to see the sixth one,” someone else tweeted.

• Related: 2023 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons And Full Moons

If you do plan to take it in, scout out a good location ahead of time. An unobstructed view from a perfectly flat vantage point with no obstructions is ideal, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, which recommends a water horizon. Just make sure there aren’t a lot of trees or buildings in the way. The darker the sky, the better.

The moon, Venus, Mars and Jupiter should be easy to spot and are worth a trip outside to see on their own, the Farmers’ Almanac said, but to see Mercury and Uranus, you may need binoculars or a telescope. Binoculars don’t have to be expensive; the type birders use should work.

This story contains reporting from Patch’s national desk.