How do you identify a planet in the sky? A planet, like a star, is a small dot in the sky. But unlike a star, it doesn't twinkle. Some of the easily recognizable planets in the sky are Sukra (Venus), Mangala (Mars), Guru or Brihaspati (Jupiter), and Sani (Saturn). Others like Budha (Mercury) are more difficult to observe. Among the planets, Sukra is the brightest and hence easily observable. Over a period of time, the planets move with reference to a star.

Do you know why this happens? It is because the other planets, like the earth, revolve around the sun. Hence the position of a planet with respect to a star is changing. Among the observable planets, Sani is the slowest moving one. In fact the name Sani means slow in Sanskrit.