May is a great month for viewing planets!

The five major planets in our solar system are all easily visible to the unaided eye, which is why they have been known about since antiquity. If you have never seen a planet before, this is a good month to start looking for them. The only planet that cannot be seen this month is Venus, which is too close to the blindingly bright Sun to spot.

The sun sets at 20:45 BST mid-month, with nautical twilight (when the Sun falls to 12 degrees below the...