Three planets, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, are visible in the early evening spring sky. Jupiter will be at opposition on May 4, 2006 in the constellation Libra. Mars during May will increase its distance from the Earth from 286 to 322 million kilometres. The planet appears in the western evening sky. It will diminish in brightness from magnitude 1.5 to 1.7, making it comparable in brightness to the nearby Stars, Pollux and Castor, in Gemini Saturn is also well situated for viewing as soon as it gets dark. It appears as a yellowish-white "star" shining at magnitude +0.3 in the constellation of Cancer. Saturn's rings are currently tilted at an inclination of 20-degrees toward the Earth. The next date that the rings will be tipped so far to our line of sight won't happen until 2014.
