When many think of the night sky, the moon and the stars immediately come to mind. Few realise that, throughout the year, five of the other seven planets in the solar system are rather easily visible to the unaided eye as pinpoints of light, appearing like bright stars in the night sky. 

Indeed, at different times of the year, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen in our night skies. Mercury is hardest to glimpse as it is rather close to the sun, and therefore can only be seen quite low in the sky just after sunset or just before sunrise. On the other hand, Mars’s brightness rises significantly every 26 months, as Earth and Mars reach opposition.

Jupiter is easily visible whenever it is in the night sky, and even small binoculars can show its four largest moons – Ganymede, Io, Callisto and Europa.

On the other hand, a small telescope is needed to make out Saturn’s rings, but the planet is still easily visible as a relatively bright point of light in the night sky.

Being significantly farther away, Uranus and Neptune are not visible to the naked eye. Telescopes are needed to properly observe these two ice giants in our solar system.