In early May the Moon passes by the planets, which have been grouping together for some months, as shown in the computer-generated chart below. The familiar constellation of Orion, below and to the left of the planets, gives an indication of the scale and shows how closely clustered the planets are at this time. Unfortunately, you will not be able to see this in real life from Earth, as the Sun is located in the middle of the group.
A much-hyped close conjunction of Mars, Jupiter and Saturn (which unlike the grouping below was visible from Earth) occurred in April; but in February 2000 a more interesting spectacle was visible in meterologically favoured parts of the UK when Mercury, conspicuous despite its proximity to the Sun, joined the above three planets and the Moon, in a good approximation to a straight line.
