Through the end of February, all the planets in our solar system will visibly align in the sky, like a trope taken straight from fiction.
The “parade of planets,” an alignment of several planets in the sky, will be visible around the world, including the Bay Area, until the end of February. As of last week, four planets — Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars — brightly shone in the sky and will continue to be visible through the end of January, according to stargazing app Star Walk. Next month, Mercury will join the arc. Uranus and Neptune will also be visible during both parades, but they require a telescope to be seen.
The parade of planets isn’t necessarily a rare astronomical event, said Gary Baker, president of the Peninsula Astronomical Society and chairperson at Foothill Observatory. The planets are visible every day of the year, but some planets are usually seen at different times of the day, like in the morning sky or after sunset.
“What’s nice about this particular arrangement is that they’re a little closer together than normal,” Baker said. “They’re not fully spread out over the whole 360, so that doesn’t happen, I guess, all that often, but it’s not that special an arrangement.”
According to Star Walk, this “parade” is known as a planetary alignment, when all planets are gathered closely on one side of the sun at the same time.
Every planet except Mercury will be visible in the sky right after sunset until around Feb. 7, Baker said. The planetary alignment is visible everywhere and can be best seen between 6 and 6:30 p.m. Venus can be seen in the western sky following the sun, while Mars is visible in the eastern sky, rising as the sun sets. Jupiter would be in the middle, with the three planets forming something like a long arc in the sky.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are “bright and relatively easy to see” with the naked eye, Baker said. However, people would need a medium-sized telescope to see Uranus and Neptune.
According to Star Walk, another planetary parade will occur around Feb. 28, and all seven of the other planets in the solar system will be visible. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Mars will be easily visible to the naked eye, according to Star Walk. Saturn, Uranus and Neptune would be harder to see, requiring binoculars or a telescope.
“It’s a long arc, and they really are in a line, and those three in particular — Venus, Jupiter and Mars — they’re bright enough to show up even in light pollution,” Baker said.
Though light pollution may not be a major issue, as Baker said, fog and clouds in the Bay Area may obstruct people’s view of the planets.
Baker said that there are other astronomical events that may be more interesting than the parade of planets. Baker said Mars and Jupiter would be best to see through a telescope right now. Mars is the closest it will be to Earth in the last two years, meaning the red planet will appear larger in the night sky.
“If you’re going to invest the time to look for a telescope, look at those objects,” Baker said. “They’re special right now.”
Baker also directed stargazers to a lunar eclipse on March 13. Foothill Observatory will be opening at 10 p.m. and closing after midnight for a special event to watch the full moon take on a reddish tint as it passes through the Earth’s shadow for a few hours.
