Planets Visible Tonight
Find out which planets you can see tonight from where you live. For Mercury through Neptune and the Moon you get rise, highest and set times, the best time to look, how high and in which direction, and how bright each one will be.
Last updated:
How to use the Planets Visible Tonight
- Choose your location from the list of cities, type latitude and longitude, or press Use my location.
- Pick the night: it starts at tonight. Use the arrows or the date box to check another night.
- Read the summary for the planets visible to the naked eye and the best time to look.
- Check the timeline: thick bars show when each planet is at least 5° up in a dark sky, and the white dot marks the best moment.
- Open a planet's card for its rise, highest and set times, direction, brightness and distance, then copy or download the list.
How planet visibility is worked out
For each planet the tool computes its position every 5 minutes through the night, from local noon to the next noon:
- Orbit: the heliocentric position from NASA JPL's approximate Keplerian elements (semi-major axis, eccentricity, inclination, mean longitude, longitude of perihelion and ascending node, each with a linear rate), solving Kepler's equation M = E − e·sin E.
- Geocentric position: Earth's position is subtracted, the light-travel time is corrected, and the result is converted to right ascension and declination of date.
- Altitude and azimuth for your latitude and longitude, using the local sidereal time.
- Visibility: a planet counts as visible when it is at least 5° above the horizon while the Sun is more than 6° below it (after civil twilight). Brightness uses the standard magnitude formulas, V = H + 5·log₁₀(r·Δ) + phase term, with Saturn's rings included.
The planets at a glance
| Planet | Typical brightness (mag) | Max. distance from Sun in the sky | Synodic period | What to look for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mercury | −2.5 at best; usually −1 to +1 when visible | 18°–28° | 116 days | Low in bright twilight; best near greatest elongation |
| Venus | −4.9 to about −3.9 when visible | 45°–47° | 584 days | The brilliant "evening star" or "morning star" |
| Mars | −2.9 to +1.8 | any | 780 days | Orange-red; brightest at opposition every ~26 months |
| Jupiter | −2.9 to −1.6 | any | 399 days | Steady, creamy white; binoculars show its 4 large moons |
| Saturn | −0.5 to +1.2 | any | 378 days | Pale yellow; a small telescope shows the rings |
| Uranus | +5.3 to +6.0 | any | 370 days | Barely naked-eye from dark skies; greenish in binoculars |
| Neptune | +7.7 to +8.0 | any | 367 days | Telescope or good binoculars and a finder chart |
Tips for planet watching
- Look along the ecliptic: the planets and the Moon always stay close to the line the Sun follows, so they appear in a band across the southern sky from mid-northern latitudes (northern sky from the Southern Hemisphere).
- Catch Mercury 30–60 minutes after sunset or before sunrise, with a clear, flat horizon in the west (evening) or east (morning). Never use binoculars while the Sun is above the horizon.
- Steady air beats darkness for planets: they are bright enough to view from a city, but they look sharpest when high in the sky.
- See them on a chart with the Night Sky Map, which shows the planets among the constellations for the same location and time.
Frequently asked questions
Which planets can you see without a telescope?
Five planets are easy naked-eye objects: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus (about magnitude 5.7) is barely visible from a very dark site and is easier in binoculars, and Neptune (about 7.8) always needs binoculars or a telescope.
How do I tell a planet from a star?
Planets usually shine with a steady light while stars twinkle, they lie close to the ecliptic (the Sun's path across the sky), and they slowly move against the stars from night to night. Venus and Jupiter are brighter than any star, and Mars has a distinct orange-red color.
Why can't I see Mercury or Venus late at night?
Mercury and Venus orbit closer to the Sun than Earth does, so they never appear far from it in the sky: Mercury at most about 28° and Venus about 47°. They are only visible in the evening twilight after sunset or in the morning before sunrise, never at midnight.
What does 'too close to the Sun' mean?
When a planet is within roughly 15° of the Sun in the sky, it rises and sets with the Sun and is lost in its glare. This happens around conjunction, when the planet is on the far side of the Sun (or, for Mercury and Venus, also passing between Earth and the Sun).
How are the rise and set times calculated?
Positions come from NASA JPL's approximate Keplerian orbital elements, corrected for light travel time and precession, and converted to altitude for your latitude and longitude every few minutes. A planet rises or sets when its center crosses −0.57° altitude, which accounts for atmospheric refraction. Times are usually within a minute or two.
What is the best time to view a planet?
Generally when it is highest in a dark sky, because you look through less air and the image is steadier. The tool picks the time of greatest altitude while the Sun is more than 12° below the horizon (or 6° for planets only seen in twilight) and the planet is at least 5° up.
When is a planet brightest?
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are brightest around opposition, when Earth passes between them and the Sun and they are up all night. Venus is brightest a few weeks before and after inferior conjunction, when it is a large crescent, reaching about magnitude −4.7.
Are all the tools on FreeToolCabin tested for quality and accuracy?
Yes! Every tool on our site undergoes automated Q/A testing in real browser environments to ensure high precision, correct output, and zero errors. If you happen to spot a bug or have a suggestion, please contact us at [email protected] and our team will review it right away.