Planets visible tonight
Which planets you can see tonight from your city, when they are up, where to look and how bright they are.
Tips for planet spotting
Find a spot with a clear view of the horizon in the direction given, give your eyes a few minutes to adjust, and look for a point of light that does not twinkle. Binoculars show Jupiter's four largest moons; a small telescope shows Saturn's rings.
Related: moonrise and moonset · eclipses · sunrise and sunset · day and night map
Questions people ask
How can I tell a planet from a star?
Planets shine with a steady light, while stars twinkle. Venus and Jupiter are brighter than any star; Mars has a clear orange-red color.
Which planets can you see without a telescope?
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all visible to the naked eye when they are well placed. Uranus is at the limit of what dark skies allow; Neptune needs binoculars or a telescope.
Why can't I see Mercury?
Mercury never strays far from the Sun, so it is only visible low in the twilight sky shortly after sunset or before sunrise, for a few weeks at a time.
What is the bright star in the west after sunset?
Most often it is Venus, the "evening star". When Venus is on the other side of the Sun it appears in the east before dawn instead, as the "morning star".
Positions are calculated in your browser with Astronomy Engine, an open-source library checked against NASA JPL data. Your location never leaves your device.