Planetary parade

A planetary parade (or planetary alignment, planetary procession) occurs when some of the planets in the Solar System appear to be close to each other in the sky. That is, individuals on Earth are able to view them simultaneously. The planets are not actually aligned in space, though. They just appear that way due to their positions in their orbits and how we view them from Earth.

A seven-planet planetary parade seen from France in 2022


Three, four, or five-planet planetary parades occur frequently. Larger planetary parades are less frequent. Because planets orbit in a regular pattern, scientists can simply calculate when such occurrences occurred in the past and when they will occur in the future.

Notable planetary parades
2025 planetary parade
There were two massive planetary parades in 2025. Six and seven planets appeared to line up in the sky.

The first segment of this activity began on the 21st of January and will conclude on February 21, 2025. These six planets, including Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn, will appear visible in the nighttime sky.

The second alignment will occur on February 28, 2025. Then, Mercury will become part of the other six planets, bringing the total number of planets to seven in the alignment.
2040 planetary parade
Following the 2025 parade, the next six-planet parade will not occur until 2040.

Related pages
Astronomy, scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena
Planet, celestial body directly orbiting a star or stellar remnant

 References 

Category:Solar System
Category:Astronomical phenomena