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    All planets to align at the same time in rare planetary parade
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    All planets to align at the same time in rare planetary parade

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    31 Comments

    1. brokenbyanangel on

      It’s been pretty cool seeing this start to happen. Lots of light pollution where I’m at.

    2. JTjack4 on

      This may be something everyone wants to see but would not see. And would not care about it even. It’s sad….

    5. wwarnout on

      “Align” implies that sometimes they are scattered in the sky. This is not the case.

      All the planets are within a couple degrees of the ecliptic all the time. This is a geometric plane in the solar system (imagine a Frisbee with the sun in the middle, and every planet’s orbit somewhere on that disk).

      This “alignment” simply means that all are in our night sky at the same time.

    6. Underhill42 on

      So… what exactly defines a “planetary parade”?

      After all, all the planets are orbiting in (almost) the same plane so that they, along with the sun, are ALWAYS arranged in an (almost) straight line across the sky. The only question is how close they appear to be to each other.

    8. avianexus on

      Harmonic convergence again? Has it really been 10,000 years already? Explains a lot about current events I guess 😂

    9. nixiebunny on

      So the radio telescope operators will be grumbling that their pointing calibration sources are all right next to each other. Great. 

    10. noodleexchange on

      ‘From our viewpoint’ – alignment is only in our view of the heavens, not a physical alignment of the sort that the Voyager program took advantage of.

    11. ilessthan3math on

      Good luck seeing Saturn 7° up at sunset. That’s not gonna be an easy one to spot.

      Uranus and Neptune also shouldn’t really be included in these if they’re being touted as naked-eye events. Both planets are invisible to the naked eye. Uranus can perhaps be glimpsed from the darkest skies on an ideal evening.

      So generally we’re talking about seeing Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars on 2/28. If you go outside tonight you’ll see Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars instead, so just as impressive of a visual lineup.

    12. Leafroy on

      _In 18 years precisely,
      The planets will align ever so nicely.
      The time to act will be at hand,
      Unleash the Titans, your monstrous band.
      Then the once-proud Zeus will finally fall,
      And you, Hades, will rule all!_

    14. Stranger_Dude on

      One of my coworkers was telling me this morning that he was going to a festival in India this weekend where the fact this is the first time in 144 years all these are lining up is going to make it an extra special party. Wish I had caught the name of the festival.

    17. FeastingOnFelines on

      Not for nothing but the planets are always “aligned”. It’s just that now they’re all on the same side of the sun.

    18. JJMcGee83 on

      I’ve seen enough movies to know that this means some bad guy is going to ascent or summon a demon or whatever.

    20. GreenWoodDragon on

      “Planetary parade” is currently my least favourite phrase. It just doesn’t sound right, it’s like it has been Disney-fied.

    21. MartyMacGyver on

      Except US! Why do WE have to keep holding the camera?? Why can’t, I dunno, _Jupiter_ do it for a change! Showboater!!

    22. Bromswell on

      “In 18 years precisely, the planets will align ever so nicely.” Didn’t have “mythical titans awakening” on my 2025 bingo card.

    27. tbestor on

      Might be a stupid question, but looking at a map of the solar system all the planets orbits appear to be in the same plane (like the rings of Saturn). So aren’t they always in alignment? They just happen to be in the same part of the sky relative to our position?

    28. AbsentmindedEagle on

      I am pretty tired of these “rare planetary parade” clickbait articles. The bright planets have been good viewing since late December. Saturn’s leaving the evening sky and getting too close to the sun to really see anymore. Most folks will be unable to see Uranus due to light pollution/moonlight (but it is possible to spot under fairly dark skies). Neptune’s best in a scope or binoculars (with experience) from darker skies.

      I reckon at least some of the drive to get clicks on non-events like this stems from the one actually good Parade we had in spring 2022. That was the real deal, with four planets (and sometimes the moon) gracing the predawn sky in a relatively small section (instead of being all over the place like they are now). It was such a fun event to see, and I enjoyed talking about it with everyone I knew. The recent “parades” are simply not worth packaging like that. It’s just good to remind folks that some planets are up in the sky and they should look at them here and there.

      I understand that these articles do get people out under the stars, which is good, but there really is nothing immensely special about whatever the planets are up to this month. I get asked about them all the time when I’m out doing sidewalk astronomy on my college campus, and I hate being a downer about a specific date lol. I do at least try and spin it to say that the parade’s happening all month long. Do enjoy Mars through a telescope if you can, as by the end of the month it’ll start to become too small to show detail in most telescopes. After that, it’ll be relegated to a gorgeous rusty ornament in the spring skies.

    30. Superb_Health9413 on

      “Listen Here Wolfchild

      I Speak To You Of The Science Of Mythology

      I Speak Of Maverick Deviation

      The Psychotronic Love Commandos

      We Shall Be Drunken Stars

      We Shall Fear Nothing

      Demand The Impossible

      Dream Your Destiny

      Defy The Logic Of Alphabets

      I Slayed The King Of The Wolves

      Nothing Is Impossible

      [zodiac mindwarp and the love reaction](https://youtu.be/0IZKgWhfhh4?si=vTYMZ05ZiGf2UdgH)