How to watch the rare planet’s display shine in the night sky

Stargazers will be in for a treat as six planets will appear lined up together in the night sky, embellishing our view of the universe for the rest of January and into February.

Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will be visible side by side, forming a line across the sky, while Mercury will unfortunately not be visible. The alignment of rare planets can be enjoyed over the next few weeks, as most of the planets in the solar system appear as a bright flash to the naked eye, according to the American “space” website. NASA.

The six planets only appear to be aligned from our view from Earth, a kind of cosmic optical illusion, as each follows a widely varying elliptical path around the sun. However, the alignment of the planets in the night sky depends on the orbit and position of each planet as seen from Earth.

While having two or three planets next to each other in the night sky is very common, seeing four or five planets at once is a rare occasion. “Such multi-planet viewing opportunities are not very rare, but they don’t happen every year, so it’s worth checking them out,” NASA wrote.

How to see the planet parade

Since the beginning of January, the planets have been getting closer to each other. Venus and Saturn are just a finger’s width apart in our view of the night sky this week in a double planetary conjunction. In fact, the two planets are hundreds of millions of miles apart. Mars is opposite, meaning it is directly opposite the sun from Earth and will shine brightly all night throughout the month.

Venus and Saturn will appear in the southwestern sky in the first two hours after dark, while Jupiter will shine high in the sky, and Mars will appear in the eastern sky, according to NASA. These four planets can be seen with the naked eye, but you’ll need a high-powered telescope or binoculars to see Uranus and Neptune.

The planetary alignment is likely to be most apparent about 30 to 60 minutes before sunrise. It is best viewed from a high, dark vantage point with little to no light pollution and an unobstructed view of the sky.

The line formed by the planets in the night sky is called the ecliptic, and it represents the level of the solar system in which the planets revolve around the sun, according to NASA. This is a rare opportunity to marvel at the size of our planet’s solar system, and see the giant planets sparkling in the sky.

Don’t worry if you can’t see the spectacle for yourself — Europe’s Virtual Telescope 2.0 project is Host a private live stream of the pairing. The broadcast begins at 12:30 PM ET (5:30 PM UTC) on January 25.