Rare Planetary Alignment: 7 Planets Line Up This Week

A rare “parade of planets” will be visible in the night sky this week, with all seven planets in our solar system joining the alignment. The event, called a planetary parade, occurs when multiple planets align, making them visible from Earth.

Seven planets – Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune – will line up on February 28. Although most of these planets have been visible since January, Mercury’s appearance will be short-lived due to the approaching sunset in early March.

Only five planets can be seen with the naked eye, but a telescope is needed to view all seven. The planets Uranus and Neptune are too dim and may be masked by the setting sun’s glare, making them harder to spot.

The best viewing time for the full alignment in the Northern Hemisphere will be after sunset on February 28 at around 8:30 p.m. local time. Planetary conjunctions happen when planets appear close together due to their orbits along a roughly flat plane around Earth.

This event is not rare, but adding more planets to the lineup makes it less common. The alignment of all eight planets is unlikely and would require 396 billion years to occur, making this event even more special. To find viewing dates and times based on your location, use tools like Time and Date or Stellarium.

Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/planet-parade-2025-see-the-ultra-rare-planetary-alignment-peak-this-week-before-saturn-gets-swallowed-by-the-sunset