THERE are quite a few planets on view in the evening sky at the moment, but without a telescope to magnify them and show their discs they just look like bright stars, writes STUART ATKINSON.

So how do you tell them apart from the background stars? There are a couple of tricks astronomers use. Firstly, they know which 'stars' are actually planets because they know the starry sky very well, so know which star isn't usually in a certain constellation, distorting its shape. Secondly, planets don't twinkle like stars do, they shine with a much steadier light. This is because the light of their tiny discs isn't distorted or broken up by the movement of the air as much as the light of much more distant pinpoint stars is.

A much easier way of identifying planets is to use the Moon as a kind of tour guide. As the Moon moves slowly across the sky, drifting from west to east, some nights it shines close to a planet - an event we call a conjunction. Over the next week the Moon will appear close to three different planets as it hopscotchs across the sky. So if you've ever wanted to find Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in the sky this will be a great week for you.

After dark on Thursday (August 16) the crescent Moon will be shining to the upper right of Jupiter, low in the south west. Four nights later, the gibbous Moon will be just to the right of yellow-hued Saturn, low in the south late in the evening. After dark on Wednesday, August 22, you'll be able to see the almost-Full Moon shining to the upper right of Mars, which will look like a bright orange-yellow star.