While we’re still far away from becoming an interplanetary species, you’ll be able to view a diverse number of planets in the night sky all throughout January. They’ve even lined up for the show.
The planetary parade. Officially known as a “planetary alignment,” a planetary parade is an astronomical event where planets appear as bright lights in a straight line in the sky. In January, the planets Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus will be plainly visible without any special equipment.
Notably, Uranus and Saturn are in the line as well, but they don’t appear as bright lights, NASA explained. This means that you’ll need a telescope to see them.
Why are the planets in a line? This actually isn’t that strange, believe it or not. From the Earth’s vantage point, planets always appear in a straight line—though they’re not always bright and visible to the naked eye.
Planets appear to be in a straight line because they all orbit the Sun around a plane called the ecliptic. According to NASA, it can be helpful to think of the ecliptic as a “cosmic racetrack” that planets pass through repeatedly. It’s why planets sometimes appear to get closer to each other in the sky.
How often do planetary alignments occur? These events aren’t super rare, but they don’t happen every year. They’re a good reminder of how vast our solar system is.
“They happen to all be in their orbits on the same side of our sun, within the same degrees in our sky, so that we can see them,” Rebecca Allen, an astrophysicist at Swinburne University in Australia, told The Guardian. “That is special. Really it’s about perspective. All of these planets are vast distances from us and from each other.”
Image: NASA
How can I watch the planetary parade? You’ll have to wait until nighttime. Venus and Saturn will be visible in the southwest a few hours after dark, while Jupiter will be high overhead, and Mars will be in the east. Just a tip: Planets tend to shine steadily and stars tend to twinkle.
Will all planets ever be visible from Earth at once? Seeing all seven planets in a line does occur, but it’s rare. Known as the “great planetary alignment,” it’s next scheduled to take place on Feb. 28, though whether it’s visible and time will depend on your location.
Images | AI Concept of a Planetary Alignment via Grok | NASA
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