On February 28, stargazers will witness a rare celestial event as seven planets align in a phenomenon known as a planetary parade. This display, which won’t occur again until 2040, will see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune appear to line up in the night sky.
“A planetary parade is a moment when multiple planets are visible in the sky at the same time,” said Dr. Greg Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich. “How impressive a parade it is will depend on how many planets are in it and how visible they are.”
While Venus, Mars, and Jupiter will be easy to spot with the naked eye, Mercury and Saturn will be closer to the horizon, making them harder to see. Uranus and Neptune will require binoculars or a telescope due to their faintness.
Dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, explained that planetary alignments occur because all planets orbit the Sun on roughly the same plane, known as the ecliptic. “As they orbit at different speeds and distances from the Sun, there are moments when they appear to line up from Earth’s perspective.”
For the best view, stargazers should look west shortly after sunset in the UK, north in Australia, and about 30 minutes after sunset in the US. Using a telescope, viewers may also spot Jupiter’s moons or Venus appearing as a tiny crescent.
The planets will gradually disperse throughout the spring, making this a fleeting but spectacular event for astronomy enthusiasts.
