Mercury is at inferior conjunction on January 5, following which it is a morning object until March 14. It is again in the morning sky between April 29 and June 28 and again between September 3 and October 17. The best morning apparition of Mercury will be towards the end of May and early June, when the planet will rise a little more than 2 hours before the Sun. Mercury is brighter in June. The January apparition is nearly as good, with Mercury rising 2 hours before the Sun at its best.

Mercury is an evening object March 15 to April 29, June 28 to September 3, and October 17 to December 20. As is usual for the southern hemisphere, the best evening apparition is during August, with the planet brightest late July and early August.

For northern hemisphere observers the best evening apparition is in early May and the best morning apparition is early in November.

Mercury and Mars are in conjunction on November 20 when the two planets will be just over 1.5° apart. The conjunction will be easily observable in the early evening sky.

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Venus is at superior conjunction with the Sun on January 12 and is then an evening object until the end of October. At first it will be a low object, setting less than an hour after the Sun until mid April. Venus will then get higher in the evening sky and be at its best in August when the planet will set up to 4 hours after the Sun.

In August it will be the brightest of 4 planets in the evening sky, with only Jupiter missing. Venus is in conjunction with Saturn on August 8 when the two planet will be nearly 3° apart, and with Mars on August 19 with the two planets just under 2° apart.

Venus returns to the morning sky at the end of October, and by the end of the year will rise nearly two and a half hours before the Sun, making it a prominent object in the dawn sky.

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Mars is at opposition at the end of January and will be an evening object for the whole year. This is not a particularly close opposition, even so Mars will be quite bright, reaching a magnitude -1.3. The planet will also be well north of the equator, so it is low in southern skies, with an altitude similar to the mid winter Sun.

Mars will gradually move south during the rest of 2010, gradually getting a little higher in southern skies. It is in conjunction with Saturn at the end of July and Venus on August 19. Both events will be visible in the early evening sky.

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Jupiter starts 2010 in the constellation Capricornus as an evening object, setting late evening. Within a few days, by January 6, it will have moved into Aquarius. Jupiter is at conjunction with the Sun at the end of February.

After conjunction Jupiter becomes a morning object and will be moving to the east across Aquarius until May 4 when it moves on into Pisces. By then it will have left the outer planet Neptune behind: the two planets were close for much of 2009. But by June, Jupiter will be closing in on Uranus and they will remain close for the rest of 2010. The first of 3 conjunctions is on June 8, when the planets will appear 26' apart, a little less than the diameter of the full moon.

Jupiter is stationary on July 24 and at opposition on September 21, the same day as Uranus. The second conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus will occur 3 days earlier, while both are moving in a retrograde sense towards the west. Jupiter is stationary a second time on November 19 after which it will start moving through the stars to the east again. Jupiter will close in on Uranus for a third time, with the conjunction on 2011 January 4.

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Saturn is in Virgo for the whole of 2010. It starts the year as a morning object rising about 1 am NZDT in most of New Zealand. The planet is stationary on January 15 after which it starts its retrograde motion. It reaches opposition on March 22. By then it will rise at about the time the sun sets and be in the sky all night.

The planet is stationary a second time at the end of May, after which it will be moving to the east. By then it will be well placed for evening viewing. Saturn is in conjunction with Mars on July 31, with the planets a degree and three-quarters apart. A second planetary conjunction, this time with Venus, occurs just over a week later on August 8. All three planets will then be within 5° of one another.

Saturn is at conjunction with the Sun on October 1, so will be a difficult object from early September. After conjunction it returns to the morning sky. Saturn will emerge from the Sun fairly quickly, so that by the beginning of November the planet will rise an hour earlier. By the end of the year it will be up more than 4 hours before the Sun, so readily visible in the pre-dawn sky. The planet will also be moving a little further south, crossing the equator at the beginning of September so getting higher in southern skies.

During 2010 the northern face rings of Saturn's rings will become a little more exposed to view although they will still appear very narrow throughout the year.

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Uranus starts the year in Aquarius, but after a fortnight moves into Pisces where it remain for the rest of 2010. It is an evening object during the first part of the year, until it reaches conjunction with the Sun on March 17. After conjunction it becomes a morning object.

As noted for Jupiter, it and Uranus will appear close in the sky during the second half of 2010. This will give a good opportunity to locate and view the outer planet in binoculars, or even spot it with the unaided eye from a dark site. The first conjunction of the two planets is on June 8, when they will be less than half a degree apart. At this date the planets will not rise until after 1 am, so pre-dawn viewing will be needed.

Uranus is stationary on July 6 and at opposition on the night of September 21/22 just a few hours after Jupiter. The second conjunction of the two planets is three days earlier, on September 19, so by then they will rise about the time of sunset and be easily visible late evening.

Neptune starts 2010 in Capricornus but moves into Aquarius late March. Its retrograde motion later in the year brings it back into Capricornus mid August, where it then stays until after the end of the year.

Neptune starts the year as an evening object setting shortly before midnight. It will then be only 2° from Jupiter. however the latter will move away from Neptune quite rapidly early in the year. Neptune is at conjunction with the Sun on February 15 after which it becomes a morning object, rising before the Sun.

The planet is stationary on June 1, and reaches opposition on August 20 by which time it will be visible in the evening sky. The planet is stationary again on November 7.