LITTLE ROCK, Iowa (KELO) — Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary performance.
Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars — will line up near the moon.
A Little Rock, Iowa, man is hoping to capture a picture of all five in one frame.
“I bought my first telescope about 20 years ago,” Clint Bruns said.
Bruns has been star gazing ever since, using one of his four high-powered telescopes that can see farther than you can ever imagine.
“About three billion light years away,” Bruns said. “You’re looking at stuff that’s probably not even there anymore, because the photons are just getting to Earth.”
He’s take pictures of Great Orion Nebula and the Horse Head and Flame Nebula with his telescope.
This week, using this telescope that’ll be synced up with this computer, he’s hoping to capture the five planets that astrologists say will be a skyline spectacle.
“Find your target, lock onto it and start taking pictures,” Bruns said.
But first he has to buy a special lens for his telescope.
“It’s an 8 mm fish eye lens to get all five of them if the clouds are going to be away. It’s been a long time since it hasn’t been cloudy, so I’m going to try tonight” Bruns said.
The best day to catch the whole group is Tuesday night in the western horizon.
“Just after the sunset is going to be the best time to see all of them,” Bruns said.
The planets will stretch from the horizon line to around halfway up the night sky.
But don’t be late: Mercury and Jupiter will quickly dip below the horizon around half an hour after sunset.
The five-planet spread can be seen from anywhere on Earth, as long as you have clear skies and a view of the west.