Look at the Eastern sky tomorrow, an hour before dawn, and you will see five planets visible to the naked eye in a lovely line. That’s not all: they will be in order from the closest to the furthest from the Sun. We start with Mercury, at its longest west elongation these days, followed by Venus, then there’s the crescent Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and almost to the South, Saturn.

If this wonderful display is not enough, pick up a telescope and you can see Uranus just between the Moon and Mars, and Neptune just to the right of Jupiter. That’s right – all seven other planets will be in a lovely procession across the sky. These sorts of group alignments, which delight lovers of the night sky, tend to only happen once every few decades.

An alignment with all the planets visible to the naked eye in the right order, plus the Moon, has not been since March 5, 1864. So if you have the chance, get watching.