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
Wednesday, January 29, 2025
Finding Uranus in the lineup of the "planetary parade"
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| Black and White chart suitable for downloading and printing (click to embiggen and print). Uranus is at magnitude 5.7 and is visible under dark sky conditions to the unaided eye, but still best in binoculars. Looking North bight Jupiter and Aldebaran are easily visible, below and to the west the Pleiades cluster is also easily seen. Two binocular distances west is the brightish star delta Arietis and an a distinct triangular formation of stars. Uranus is in the same binocular field as delta Arietis and the triangle. The circle is the file of view of 10x50 binoclars | Stellarium simulation of the sky appearance of the area covered by the black and white chart. Click to embiggen. | One of my photographs of the area labeled to show Uranus n relation to Aldebaran, Jupiter, the Pleaides, delta Arietis and the triangle. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra 5x zoom, ƒ/2.4 13seconds exposure, 7.9 mm, ISO1600. Click to embiggen. |
The current planetary lineup (Planetary parade), has four easily seen classical planets (Saturn, Venus, Jupiter and Mars. And two difficult to see planets (Uranus, Neptune).
You would need a telescope to see Neptune in the sky under normal circumstance, but it is low in the horizon murk, and not accessible to telescopes at the moment.
Uranus is at magnitude 5.7 and is potentially visible under dark sky conditions to the unaided eye (as humans can see down to magnitude 6.0 with decent eyesight and dark skies), if you know where to look. Binoculars (or a telescope) are still best to find this planet.
At the moment, the iconic Pleiades cluster is and excellent signpost to Uranus, just two binocular widths away.. See the charts above for guidance. If you are in a dark sky site, the abundance of faint stars may make it confusing to poick up Uranus initially, but the triangle asterism is a good further guide. You my need to consult the printable map a couple of time to pin Uranus down.
Uranus will not move much over the month, so these maps will be a good guide for all of February.
Labels: binocular, lineup, Uranus
Monday, June 03, 2024
An over hyped "Parade of Planets" 3-5 June
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| Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, Saturn, Mars and Mercury make an attractive lineup. The Moon is close to Mars. Similar views will be seen from the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time. | Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
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| Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, Saturn, Mars and Mercury make an attractive lineup. Jupiter and mercury are deep in the twilight. | Morning sky on Monday, June 3 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
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| Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, is close to Jupiter and Mercury deep in the twilight. | Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:18 ACST, (60 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
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| Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The crescent Moon, is close to Jupiter and Mercurydeep in the twilight. | Morning sky on Wednesday, June 5 as seen from Adelaide at 06:48 ACST, (30 minutes before sunrise, click to embiggen). The planets positions are labeled, including the ones not visible to the unaided eye. |
You may have see some rather breathless statements on the internet about the "planetary Parade" coming up on 3 June. With statements such as "stunning alignment" and "solar spectacle", this vastly overplays what you will see. Yes, there will be 6 planets in a line in the morning skies from 3-5 June. But
Uranus and Neptune are not visible to the
unaided eye. On the 3rd Mercury will be difficult to see as it is low in the twilight and Jupiter is too deep in the twilight to be readily seen. You will need a clear, unobstructed horizon to see Jupiter and Mercury as they are very low in the twilight.
The crescent Moon is near Mercury an Jupiter deep in the twilight. You may need binoculars to see Jupiter and Mercury (Binoculars will make for much better viewing even if you can see them). By the time Jupiter and Mercury have risen sufficiently to see Saturn and mars will be very difficult to see.
Nonetheless the early morning effort is worthwhile.
Labels: Jupiter, lineup, Mars, Mecury, Moon, Saturn
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