Look up to see a planetary parade this winter, with 7 planets set to align in the night sky – CBS News

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Caitlin O’Kane

January 27, 2025 / 12:13 PM EST
/ CBS News
Get ready for a parade of planets this winter. During the month of January, sky gazers will be able to see four planets in one view — and come February, the parade will only expand. NASA says after dark, throughout the month of January, you’ll be able to see Venus, Saturn Jupiter and Mars. Venus and Saturn will appear in the southwest of the sky, Jupiter will appear overhead and Mars will rise in the east. Uranus and Neptune will also be there, but they won’t be bright and visible without a telescope. So-called planetary parades are not super rare, according to NASA, but they don’t happen every year. There was planetary parade in June 2024 when six planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn — all aligned. These events are often called a planetary alignment, but planets always appear in a line in the sky because they orbit the sun — the difference is that they will appear closer to each other and Earth, making them visible from our planet. Saturn and Venus will be making a close approach in January. Their closest approach to each other occurred on Jan. 17 and 18. Mars and Earth will also align in their orbits, and this will occur around the time when Mars is at its closets to Earth, so it will appear bigger and brighter in the night sky. This is called an opposition and it happens about every two years. In February, seven planets will be in alignment – Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars. Most will be visible to the naked eye, but to see Uranus and Neptune, you may need a telescope or binoculars, according to Starwalk, a sky-gazing app that tracks space events for astronomers and amateur stargazers. This alignment will be most visible worldwide on February 28.Those who want to see this event should start looking for the alignment as soon as the sun sets. Some places might have a better view of the alignment on different days. For example, in New York, you might see the event best on Feb. 25, according to Starwalk. Caitlin O’Kane is a New York City journalist who works on the CBS News social media team as a senior manager of content and production. She writes about a variety of topics and produces “The Uplift,” CBS News’ streaming show that focuses on good news.
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