June’s early morning planetary ‘alignment’ continues. Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are easily visible to the unaided eye. They appear as stars to the unaided eye due to their distance from the Earth.
Imagine a slightly wonky line connecting those three planets. Placed along that line are also the planets Uranus and Neptune. In spite of both being significantly larger than Earth, you will need a telescope to see either.
That imaginary line refered to above is what astronomers call the ecliptic. This is the plane (think of a really big disc) in which the planets orbit the Sun. The planets will continue to move against the backgrounds stars but they are always near the ecliptic.
