Armagh, 2nd May 2002. Saturn and Mars are at the top left, Venus is the very bright object and Mercury appears through the clouds. ... All five planets visible to ancient astronomers can now be seen in alignment in the western sky. ... Next is Venus, the brightest planet or "Evening Star", followed by Mars, a much fainter red planet, then Saturn (near the red star Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus), and finally, slightly higher in the sky, the largest planet Jupiter. ...