Thursday, February 26, 2026
No, you won't be able to see all 6 planets lined up on February 28, 2026
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| North-western sky on the evening of Saturday, February 28 as seen from Adelaide at 20:20 ACDST (30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). | Western sky on the evening of Saturday, February 28 as seen from Los Angeles at 18:29 local time (30 minutes after sunset, click to embiggen). |
Despite a variety of claims on the internet, you won't be able to see all 6 planets lined up on February 28, 2026 (UPDATE).
The good news is that they are lined up. The bad news is that they are too deep in the twilight to see.
At civil twilight, 30 minutes after sunset, if you have a clear, level, unobstructed horizon, Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Neptune are invisible in the twilight glow (Mercury has set in the southern hemisphere), as is Uranus. Jupiter *might* just be visible.
Venus may be visible in binoculars (or if you have very good eyesight) in the Northern hemisphere low in the twilight if the horizon conditions are clear. UDPATE: In some places in the Northern hemisphere, Venus may be high enough to see at nautical twilight. Daniel Fischer was able to image it at nautical twilight in Bochum in the EU https://scicomm.xyz/@cosmos4u/116133837700056539 .
60 minutes later at astronomical twilight, when the sky is darker, Venus and Saturn have set (well they are right on the horizon in the Northern Hemisphere and still is high in some places see update above) and Uranus will be just visible in binoculars (Jupiter will be well visible).
Labels: lineup, Mercury, Neptune, public outreach, Saturn, Venus
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