Planetary parade: 7 planets will align in the sky—here’s when this rare phenomenon is expected to occur

Not one, not two, but seven planets will align in the night sky this week in a relatively rare planetary parade. The phenomenon will see Mars, Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune line up, all of which will be visible to the naked eye, according to Sky News.

Sharp-eyed astronomers may have already spotted six of the planets in late January or early this month, but on February 28, Mercury will also join the parade.

Why do planets align?

Simply put, as the planets in our Solar System orbit the Sun, they occasionally align in space, according to NASA.

The term “planetary alignment” can refer to visible lineups with other planets, the Moon, or bright stars.

When this happens, planets always appear along a line or arc, NASA adds, due to the way they are viewed from Earth.

“Planetary alignments, where multiple planets appear close to each other in the sky, occur periodically but are relatively rare,” said Dr. Shyam Balaji, a researcher in astroparticle physics and cosmology at King’s College London, last month.

He added that alignments of six or more planets occur roughly every few decades, making Friday’s phenomenon even rarer.

NASA notes that Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are often visible in the night sky, but the addition of Venus and Mercury is particularly significant.

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