Clouds could make it hard to see ‘parade of planets’ from San Diego on Friday evening – San Diego Union-Tribune

Patchy clouds will likely make it difficult for San Diego County residents to observe the rare sight of seven planets appearing to form a line in the sky on Friday evening, according to the National Weather Service.

And it will be hard or impossible to see some of the distant worlds without binoculars or a telescope.

NASA says that Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will roughly align, creating a “parade of planets” just above the west-southwest horizon a half hour after sunset, which will occur at 5:45 p.m.

It’s possible there will be breaks in the clouds. If that happens, skygazers should be able to see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn with binoculars. But a telescope is recommended for Uranus and Neptune.