It's not too often in a given year that we can see five of our fellow planets in our solar system in one night. But this week Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are all available in the night sky and all you need to see them are your eyes

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with the help of contacts or glasses for some of us. Uranus is also visible but you'll need a super-duper pair of binoculars or a telescope to see the much more distant planet.

By far the easiest planet to see is Venus. You just can't miss it! You probably have already seen it this fall shining brightly in the southwestern sky. It's by far the brightest star-like object in the sky. In fact, this week, it's at its maximum brilliancy for 2005 as it's also nearing its closest approach to Earth, just more than 35 million miles away.

Forget about seeing much if you aim your telescope at Venus. It has a very thick and poisonous atmosphere that completely hides the surface. The planet named after the goddess of love is still intriguing through a telescope right now because it is crescent shaped, just as we see our moon on some nights. That's because Venus is nearly in a line between the Earth and sun. Venus emanates no light of its own but like all the planets it reflects sunlight. Most of the sunlit part of Venus is turned away from Earth except for a little sliver. It's a really bright sliver though because of Venus' highly reflective cloud shroud.

Mars is also another easy planet to spot this week because it's still very bright, despite the fact that Mars and Earth are a lot farther away from each other than they were last month. It's still the brightest star-like object in the evening eastern sky, and with the naked eye you can easily see its reddish hue. In fact it's extra easy to find now because the waxing moon will be in a celestial hug with Mars, less than a degree away from the red planet. Through a telescope you may see some dark patches on Mars, although it's a lot more difficult to see much detail. Mars is nearly 20 million miles farther away than it was a month ago.To see Saturn, the ringed wonder of the solar system, you have to stay up a little later in the evening. Saturn rises in the east around 9 p.m. to the lower left of the bright constellation Orion the Hunter. It's not really high enough though for telescope viewing until about 11 p.m. Before that late hour, your telescope will have to cut through too much of Earth's blurring atmosphere. If you ever have a chance to see Saturn through a telescope, do it. It's one of the best sights you'll ever see and you don't need all that big of a scope to see it. Saturn will put on its best show in February when it'll be at its closest to Earth for the year.To see the other two planets, Jupiter and Mercury, set the alarm for about 6 a.m. and gaze to the east just before the morning twilight. You'll have no trouble seeing Jupiter. Look in the low southeast sky for the brightest "star" you can see. That's it, Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. Through even a small telescope you can see Jupiter's cloud bands and up to four of its moons as they orbit the big planet.Mercury, the closest planet to the sun, is the next brightest object to see to the lower left of Jupiter. It may be a little tricky to see because it won't get that high above the horizon before morning twilight kicks in. Through a telescope, Mercury will appear crescent shaped just like we see Venus in the evening, although not nearly as bright. Since Mercury is so close to the Sun we only see it now and then either shortly before morning twilight or shortly after evening twilight.The annual Geminid Meteor Shower, one the best in the year, is also peaking this week but unfortunately this year the near full moon washes out most of meteors. The best time to see it will be between 3 a.m. and morning twilight this coming Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. The very best time to look will be Tuesday morning between 5 and 6:30 a.m., after the moon has set in the west.Bundle up and lie back in a lawn chair, rolling your eyes all around the sky to catch the "falling stars." Good luck putting them in your pocket though!Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and author of the new book, "Pennsylvania Starwatch," available at bookstores and at his Web sitewww.lynchandthestars.com