Five of the planets can be seen with the unaided eye (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn). Many times these will appear as the brightest objects in the sky.
Mercury and Venus never rise too high in the sky and are only visible for relatively short periods following sunset or preceding dawn as these planets inhabit obits that are closer to the Sun than our Earth. Venus being in the further (from the Sun) orbit, gets more time on the celestial stage and outshines all other objects when it is visible at a peak magnitude of -4.
From closest to the sun to furthest orbit, the sequence of planets is; Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
Mars alternates size and brightness more than any other planet due to the large variation in it's distance from earth, which can vary by a factor of 4 depending on the coincidence of both planets orbital patterns.
Jupiter usually outshines every other object in the sky save the Moon and Venus, when they are competing. Binoculars from clear steady skies can reveal some planetary banding and tonal variations in the creamy surface. The dance of it's 4 largest moons Io, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa is an intersting sight, simulating a solar system in miniture. Jupiter has many satellites, but these 4 are the only ones visible through binoculars and modest telescopes.
Saturn is always a site to behold in binoculars or any telescope. Saturn takes 29.5 years to complete it's orbit, so it spends 2 years in each constellation that it visits. Even a modest pair of binoculars held steady will reveal it's magical rings.
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are progressively tougher targets requiring at least a small telescope to resolve their disks. Uranus will reveal a light greenish cast and Nepune a blue/teal. Pluto requres at least a 6" telescope and does not yield any details.
