Planets Jupiter, Mercury and Mars line up, visible to naked eye

December 10, 2006

Stargazers in Massachusetts will get a rare show on Sunday night, just before the local.

The planets Mars, Mercury and Jupiter will line up and will be seen in clear skies at least 45 minutes before sunrise, and will be seen each morning until December 14, 2006.

"Jupiter will be very bright and it will look like it has two bright lights next to it, and they won't twinkle because they're planets. When I look at something like this, I realize that all the powers on Earth, all the emperors, all the money, cannot change it one iota. We are observers, but the wonderful part of that is that we are the only species on this planet that can observe it and understand it," said television show host of Star Gazer, Jack Horkheimer. He is also director of the Space Transit Planetarium in Miami,.

This will be the closest planet-lineup to until 2053. The previous closest viewing occurred in 1925.