Three planets and crescent moon visible in night sky, rare treat for stargazers

Mars, Venus, Saturn and a crescent Moon could be seen in clear skies this morning. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Early morning stargazers were treated to a rare sight this morning, with Mars, Venus, Saturn and a crescent moon all visible with the naked eye.

The three planets and the moon could be seen anywhere with clear skies across the country between 4am and sunrise this morning.

Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki said this special celestial event is called a conjunction, when two or more objects meet in the sky or appear to pass one another.

"The more things you're getting conjuncting the less common it is," he said.

"Typically you get a conjunction between two objects maybe once or twice a year, three planets is maybe once a year or once every two years.

"But getting four objects is quite rare so this was quite a rare planetary conjunction along with the moon."

Stardome Astronomer Josh Aoraki. Photo / Supplied

The sight was visible in the Eastern sky from about 4am, he said.

"Until the sun actually washed out the stars, they were visible over in the East."

"So anyone with a good view on the East – over the East Coast for example – would have got a really good view."

For those that missed out, Aoraki said the planets would still be close to one another tomorrow morning.

"The moon is the one that's moving quite quickly – the planets are still going to be quite close … but the moon's just going to be a little bit lower than it was this morning."

"But it will probably be another couple of years before we see that specific four again."