You Can Witness a Stunning ‘Parade of Planets’ Tomorrow—and There Won’t Be Another Until 2040

• Seven planets will be visibly in the night sky on Feb. 28.
• Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars will be visible with the naked eye.
• Neptune and Uranus are both out, too, but you’ll need a telescope to spot them. Saturn will be in the sky shortly after sunset.

A planetary parade that’s been dazzling astronomers and amateur stargazers alike since January is nearing its epic final display—but you’ll need to be in the right place at the right time to catch it in all its glory. 

On Feb. 28, seven planets—Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn—will all grace the early evening sky. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars will be easy to spot with the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will require binoculars or a small telescope.

The trickiest member of this entourage is Saturn, which may be visible only for a short window right after sunset, depending on your location and sky conditions. That said, this celestial spectacle is a global event, so chances are good that conditions will be perfect somewhere for this rare planetary gathering to shine. 

What is a “Parade of Planets”? 

In addition to “planet parade,” this event is also described as a “planetary alignment.” But “parade” is the more appropriate term because the planets are never perfectly aligned on one side of the sun. We see them this way from Earth because they all orbit the sun in nearly the same flat “disk” of space called the ecliptic plane. This makes the planets appear to follow the same path across the sky (the ecliptic), and when several cluster up together we get a “planetary alignment.”

“Physically, there’s no actual alignment happening,” Kate Pattle, an astrophysicist at University College London, told CNN during a planet parade in June 2024. “It’s just that most of the planets are more or less on the same side of the sun at the moment. If the planets actually aligned with each other in space, that would be called a syzygy, and that’s a much, much rarer event.”

How to catch February’s planet parade

Seeing all seven planets together on the evening of Feb. 28 is going to take some precision timing and ideal conditions. Even if the weather is decent (which for February is always a wildcard), you’ll need an unobstructed view (no mountains, trees, buildings, etc.) of the western horizon to catch all seven at the same time. This is because Saturn, easily visible on dark nights, will be setting very close after sunset and will appear dim in the evening twilight. There will likely only be a window of 20 to 30 minutes that you’ll be able to spot this departing member of the parade of planets before it dips below the horizon. 

On the plus side, a New Moon will coincide with this planetary parade, giving way to exceptionally dark skies for viewing dim objects like Uranus and Neptune. Even if you don’t have access to binoculars or a telescope, you should still be able to easily spot Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars. 

While planetary parades aren’t particularly rare, having this many planets together in the same general section of the sky is special. In fact, our next best shot will be in September 2040, when five naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) will align with a crescent moon.

So grab your binoculars, find a clear horizon, and don’t miss your chance to witness this planetary spectacle!