Star-gazers have the rare opportunity over the next four weeks to see the five brightest planets which have converged in one part of the sky to form a spectacular celestial array that will not appear again until 2040.

Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Saturn and Venus will appear tightly clustered in the western sky and be visible in the evening to the naked eye, the Astronomical Society of Malta said.

Members of the Astronomical Society and the public viewed the planets during an observation from Dingli Cliffs last Saturday.

Though light pollution usually blots out the stars from the sky, these planets are bright enough to be seen even from larger cities.

The view from a dark sky site, however, is much more awe-inspiring and overpowering, the society said.

Each evening, the alignment will assume different shapes, as the five planets move around the sun.

Similar groupings occur every 20 years or so, though they are not always visible. The last time they were this visible was in 1940.

In May, 2000, the five planets formed a tighter group but were so close to the Sun that they were washed out by its glare.

In 2004, they will appear together again in the night sky, but will be spread over a much wider area. They will not be as easy to see at a single glance again until 2040.

The Maltese astronomical community stressed that there was no astronomical significance to the cluster.

"Doomsayers are likely to see some dark meaning in this alignment, as happened in the months before the May 2000 line-up, where some thought it foretold widespread catastrophe. In reality, nothing unusual happened," the society said.

Whoever would like to become a member of the Astronomical Society of Malta should write to PO Box 174, Valletta, CMR 01, visit www.maltastro.org or send an email to info@maltastro.org.