In February 2025, the seven planets joining Earth in our solar system will be visible all at once in the night sky as they get arranged in an extraordinary pattern called a “great planetary alignment,” or in a more celebratory expression, a “planet parade.” Eager astronomers will have their telescopes ready around the evening of February 28, when Saturn, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, and Neptune will all begin to show up in the sky.Â
This event has piqued the interest of people across the world, but as anticipation grows, it’s important to recognize common misconceptions surrounding planetary alignment.Â
What Happens During a Planetary Alignment
Most instances of planetary alignment, although exciting, aren’t the rarest of celestial spectacles. Several planets in our solar system align at some point every year, causing them to temporarily show up in the sky together and become visible from Earth. For a planetary alignment to occur, three or more planets must gather closely on the same side of the Sun (when this happens to two planets, it’s usually considered a conjunction).
A complete planetary parade that features seven planets, however, is considerably more rare; the last time this type of event occurred was in 2022.
An alignment occurs based on the ecliptic, an imaginary plane that governs the Earth’s orbit — plus the other seven planets’ orbit — around the Sun. Each planet in the solar system stays on this plane, but the main difference among them lies in their orbital speed; the farther a planet is from the Sun, the slower it will orbit. Mercury, the closest to the Sun, takes 88 Earth days to orbit, while Neptune, the farthest from the Sun, takes a whopping 60,190 Earth days (or about 160 Earth years) to orbit.Â
Eventually, the planets may align as they move through the ecliptic, but they’ll never form a perfectly straight line. This is because each planet exhibits slight deviations in their location relative to the ecliptic, with their orbits tilted varying degrees from the plane.Â
Read More: 5 Planets with Extreme (and Weird) Weather Patterns in Our Solar System
How to View Planetary Alignments
While this great planetary alignment is not as flawless in reality, from our perspective on earth, it will still captivate those who watch the night sky. On February 28, the seven planets will all appear across the sky (but again, not in a perfect line). This creates the illusion that the planets are somewhat close in proximity, but out in space, they are still separated by millions (or billions) of miles.
The alignment will generally be visible from anywhere on Earth, although ideal viewing times differ based on location. Most of the planets will be visible with the naked eye, except for Neptune and Uranus, which require binoculars or a telescope to get a better view.Â
If you can’t view the event on February 28, you’ll have another chance to witness a planetary alignment — albeit with only 6 planets involved — later in January 2025.Â
First, on January 19, Venus and Saturn will experience a conjunction and share the same right ascension, appearing as close neighbors in the night sky. Soon after, four other planets will enter the scene on the evening of January 21; you’ll be able to see Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Saturn align (only Mercury will be missing). In addition, this alignment isn’t only limited to one night, meaning some planets may continue to linger in the sky on following nights.
Read More: 6 Exoplanets in our Universe That Could Support Life Other Than Earth
Article Sources
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
Jack Knudson is an assistant editor at Discover with a strong interest in environmental science and history. Before joining Discover in 2023, he studied journalism at the Scripps College of Communication at Ohio University and previously interned at Recycling Today magazine.
