Planetary parade to join a crescent moon on Feb. 3

A crescent moon will be part of a planetary parade featuring six planets after sunset on Feb. 3: Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune and Saturn.

Transcript

00:00Music

00:06Just after nightfall on February 3rd, a crescent moon will line up with six planets in the sky.

00:12These planets are Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune and Saturn.

00:18Although you typically don't need a telescope to observe planetary alignments,

00:22you do need one to see Uranus and Neptune because these ice giants are too far away to be visible to the naked eye.

00:29With a telescope, you'll have a great opportunity to view this celestial party in greater detail.

00:34Mars' polar ice caps, Jupiter's moons and Great Red Spot, Saturn's rings and Venus' thick cloud cover,

00:42Uranus and Neptune will look like tiny blue dots.

00:46Before heading outside, be sure to dress warmly and always check the weather for clouds.

00:51You can do so by visiting AccuWeather.com or by downloading the AccuWeather app.

00:55Reporting for AccuWeather, I'm Jeff Cornish.