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When we look at the planets without any mechanical assistance, they appear as bright stars, but once we use a pair of binoculars or a telescope, the picture dramatically changes. Instead of a point of light, a planet may appear as a disk or it may even be possible to make out details of the planet's surface. All of this depends not only on the planet itself, time of year, viewing conditions, but also whether your are using a telescope, binoculars or just you’re your eyes. For this reason, for some planets, I have included a description of how it may appear through both a telescope and also binoculars. This does not mean that you can't enjoy the planets without a telescope. But I find that even when looking at the planets with the naked eye, knowing their appearance as seen through a telescope adds something to the experience. Only during the last few hundred years has it been possible to gaze at the planets assisted by a telescope, and only during the last generation or so have we been privileged through the many space probes to almost touch our neighboring worlds. We may never be able to personally observe the rings of Saturn from one its satellites (although one can’t be absolutely sure of that), but the close up photographs taken of the ringed planet will add to our appreciation of the sight of Saturn from the Earth.