Why you will be able to see four of Earth's neighbouring planets this month

Four planets in our solar system will be visible to the naked eye in a rare astronomical event this week.

Jupiter, Saturn, Venus and Mars will all be visible to keen stargazers in Australia, appearing larger than usual due to a phenomenon called "opposition" occurring with Saturn and Jupiter.

The other two planets will also be visible due to this.

According to EarthSky, a planet is in opposition when the sun and that planet are exactly 180 degrees apart in the sky.

The word comes from Latin translation meaning "to set against".

On July 14, Jupiter will be in opposition, meaning Earth will be passing between Jupiter and the sun on that date.

Saturn will then go into opposition on July 20, however both Saturn and Jupiter will begin to appear more clearly to people looking at the skies from July 12 at around sunset.

NASA find new planet 60 times bigger than sun

Mars technically won't be in opposition until October, however this month, it will be particularly bright around midnight and will continue to be visible more clearly working up to the October 13 date when Earth will pass between it and the sun.

While Venus actually experienced opposition in June, the brightest planet in the sky will be orbiting the sun more quickly this month and will be most visible on July 10 at around 4am.

Anyone keen to see this phenomenon should have a telescope or binoculars handy and remember that weather will play a role in how clear the planets' visibility will be.