It’s not uncommon to spot at least one bright planet on most nights; however, sometimes, you may get the chance to see up to four of five planets visible at once. This creates a “planetary parade” or a “planet alignment”
Although these events are not rare, they don’t happen that often. The current planetary parade will allow us to see seven planets. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars, will be visible to the naked eye. Saturn, however, will be more difficult to spot because it is low on the horizon, and a telescope will be needed to spot the two other planets, Uranus and Neptune.
Being able to see multiple planets at once
The reason planets appear along a line in the sky is because of the way the planets orbit the sun.
The solar system is flat, with planets travelling along a relatively thin, disc-shaped plane. From Earth, we’re looking into this plane from inside it, meaning we see the orbits of the planets from the side. This perspective makes the planets appear in a line or arc across the sky, called the ecliptic plane.
Although the alignment itself isn’t anything spectacular, being able to observe multiple planets at once doesn’t happen very often, which makes it worth observing.
Observing the Planet parade
The planets need to appear high enough in the sky to see the planet parade with the naked eye. Usually, to be able to spot a planet without a telescope, it needs to be a few degrees above the horizon, ideally 10 degrees or more.
Planets that are low on the horizon can be hard to spot because their light has to travel through more of Earth’s atmosphere, which could cause the light to scatter, making it harder to see.
The bright glow of the sky near the sun or sunrise can also make planets low on the horizon hard to spot.
Planet parades are exciting when four or five naked-eye planets line up in the sky, but for this one, you will be able to see up to seven.
These lineups typically occur every few years. The inclusion of Venus and Mercury in these lineups makes them especially memorable. Both of these planets orbit closer to the Sun than Earth and have smaller, faster orbits.
Venus is visible for only a couple of months when it is at its greatest distance from the Sun, while Mercury, which completes an orbit in just 88 days, is visible for only a few days or weeks, just before sunrise or just after sunset.
Although planet parades last a little while, they don’t last forever. Most planet parades last for a week to a month as the planets move slowly across the sky.
Even during five-planet lineups, the event can only be seen for a few days as Mercury temporarily emerges from the Sun’s glare.
February 2025 planetary parade
The best chance to see the current planetary parade will occur after sunset on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Venus and Jupiter will be the easiest planets to spot due to their brightness, while Mars will have a distinctly reddish hue.
Clearer skies are needed to stop the planets properly, and the weather is expected to settle as clearer and calmer conditions develop later in the week, making it easier to spot the planets.
This event marks the last time that seven planets will be seen simultaneously so well until 2040.
