Did you miss the June 3 planet parade, when six planets lined up in the sky? You're getting a second chance. In August, stargazers once again will have the opportunity to see six planets in the sky at the same time. These events, known as planetary alignments or planet parades, aren't as rare as some other astrological events. But 2024 has brought a total solar eclipse, Aurora Borealis and June's six-planet parade, so it's been a good year for backyard astronomers.
Prime time for the planet parade will be the morning of Aug. 24, when Saturn, Jupiter and Mars will be visible with the naked eye. Neptune and Uranus will be visible for most of the night, but require high-powered binoculars or telescopes to view. The planets are fairly well spread out so you may need to turn your head quite a bit to see all of them. Saturn will appear first, followed by Neptune. Uranus, Jupiter and Mars will come over the horizon as the night goes on. Finally, Mercury will appear over the horizon at approximately 5:45 a.m., approximately 30 minutes before sunrise.
An image from the astronomy app Stellarium shows how the night sky will look during the planet parade.
Much like last time, the best vantage point for folks in the US will be in the New York state region on the morning of Aug. 24 between 5:45 a.m. ET and sunrise, which is slated for 6:15 a.m. ET. Once the sun comes over the horizon, the planets will become less visible until daylight obstructs them entirely.
The rest of the world will have an opportunity to see the parade as well. According to the Star Walk app, you can view the parade on the following dates in the following regions:
- Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong, Aug. 23
- Athens and Tokyo, Aug. 24
- Berlin, London, and Reykjavík, Aug. 26
- Mexico, Aug. 28
- São Paulo and Sydney, Aug. 30
This is the third such event to take place in 2024. There was a parade during the total solar eclipse, although a few of the planets may have been difficult to spot. The second took place during the week of June 3 and people could actually see up to four planets with the naked eye. Uranus and Neptune were also visible just before dawn, but only with the aid of binoculars or telescopes.
Will my region see the planetary parade?
Almost certainly. Unlike last time, this planet parade will be visible across nearly the entire US. We tested locations in California, Texas, Ohio, Florida, Washington state, and New York state using Stellarium's website and found that every place we tested will have all six planets visible for at least a few minutes. Floridians and Californians will have the smallest window that we observed, with Mercury popping up just a few minutes before sunrise.
To find out how good the viewing will be where you live, use the Stellarium website or the Sky Tonight app (on iOS and Android). Simply key in your location in either tool and set the date to the morning of Aug. 24 between 5:30 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. If the planets are above the horizon line, you'll be able to see them all.
I recommend using both Stellarium and Sky Tonight, as they provide different vantage points. Stellarium is better for seeing how visible the planets will be from Earth while Sky Tonight does a better job of showing you where the planets are regardless of visibility. Between the two, you should be able to find them all.
Will I need any special equipment?
Jupiter, Mars and Saturn will be visible with the naked eye virtually everywhere where the alignment can be seen. Due to Neptune and Uranus being further away, you'll need some high powered binoculars or a telescope to find them. Mercury is a toss-up. It's following a similar path to the sun and its proximity may make it difficult to see without some sort of magnification.
This is typical of larger planetary alignments. Generally speaking, the planets further away from Earth are harder to see without assistance and planets close to the sun have the disadvantage of the sun's brightness partially obfuscating visibility. The June 2024 planetary alignment technically included Venus, but that planet was so close to the sun that it made observation impossible.
There are other considerations as well. Weather can intrude on your good time if it decides to be cloudy that day, while larger cities may produce too much light pollution to see much of anything. For the best results, you'll want to drive out to the boonies where the sky is much more visible.
What are planetary alignments?
Planetary alignments -- colloquially known as planetary parades -- describe the phenomenon of multiple planets being visible in the night sky at the same time. The two terms are mostly interchangeable, although "planetary alignment" is the official terminology for this type of event. NASA and other space agencies also refer to it as a conjunction. Conjunctions describe when planets are particularly close together in the night sky.
According to Star Walk, there are multiple classifications for planetary alignments. A mini-planetary alignment includes three planets, a small alignment has four, a large has five or six, and the granddaddy of them all, a great or full alignment, would mean all the planets are visible.
There is one more type of alignment and that's one where all the planets in the solar system are mostly lined up on the same side of the sun, including the Earth. It's not a perfect alignment since planets orbit on their own planes, but the planets come pretty close. The last such instance occurred in 949 CE.
When is the next planetary alignment?
Mini- and small planetary alignments happen pretty consistently. The larger ones are rarer, though. Here are the dates of upcoming alignments of five or more planets:
- Jan. 18, 2025
- Feb. 28, 2025
- Aug. 29, 2025
The January and August dates will be large alignments with six planets each. In February 2025, all seven of the other planets in the solar system will be visible in the night sky, an event that doesn't occur often.