Rare ‘planet parade’ to be visible TONIGHT as six planets align in the sky – exact time for the best view
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A RARE 'planet parade' where Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn and Venus will align in the night sky will be visible tonight. The six planets will move into a large arc that just about fits into your eye's field of view. Although it's important to note that only four planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, will be visible to the naked eye.
![[Planetary parade showing Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, and the Moon in the night sky.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ac-07_01-planetary-parade-graphic.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Looking at the sky, Mars will be in the left corner of the eye, with Saturn and Venus in the right, Dr Dan Brown, an astronomy expert here at Nottingham Trent University, told The Sun. Uranus and Neptune are never visible to the naked eye, as they are too far away from Earth.
The four visible planets, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus, will be strung across the evening sky on 18 January where you should be able to see them from 5pm to 9pm local time. Although, the "best conditions" will be at 6pm, with Mars, Venus, and Saturn roughly 20 degrees above the horizon, according to Dr Brown.
Three planets will be particularly easy to find. "Mars, Venus and Jupiter will be the brightest objects in the entire sky," Dr Brown explained. "Saturn is more like the 10th brightest, but still easy to find given its proximity to Venus.". But if you're struggling to find them, try using a sky map app like Night Sky.
A 'planet parade' is when four or more planets line up in the sky at once. It will be visible until 21 February, with the best night to view being 21 January. Planets are constantly moving, which means their paths occasionally cross into an alignment in Earth's sky, as Dr Brown explains:.
