If the night sky looks especially brilliant in early March, that's because it is. The six brightest objects in the night sky all appear at one time after sunset. The event will only last a couple days, though, as the brightness of two of the objects, Mercury and Mars, will begin to dim and lose their top night-sky rankings.

The six brightest objects in the sky are, in order, the moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and the star Sirius. All six appear together after sunset on the first three days of March. They will still be visible after those days, but Mercury and Mars will be getting dimmer from their peak brightness. Starting in the west after the sun has set, look for Mercury close to the horizon. Dazzling Venus will be above Mercury, and Jupiter will be just above Venus. Look up to see the moon, and then south to find the star Sirius to the lower left of Orion. Lastly, the reddish dot of Mars can be easily discovered rising in the east.

The moon just made a couple of pretty pairings with Venus and Jupiter in late February, and it will meet up with the planets again ...

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Explore is a Sierra Club blog where individuals share stories of their personal encounters with the natural world.