How to watch the parade of planets with Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars: NPR

Over the next few weeks, a stunning parade of planets will shine in the night sky, providing a celestial spectacle that amateur and seasoned astronomers can easily observe.

Throughout the month, four planets – Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars – will appear aligned and bright enough to be seen with the naked eye in the first hours after dark, according to NASA. Uranus and Neptune will also be there, but you’ll need binoculars or telescopes to spot them.

“These multi-planet viewing opportunities aren’t very rare, but they don’t happen every year, so it’s worth taking a look,” NASA added.

Since the beginning of January, Venus and Saturn have been getting closer and closer. The climax will occur Friday and Saturday, when the two planets will appear just “a few fingers apart” from Earth’s perspective, NASA said. (Even though in reality, there are hundreds of millions of kilometers separating them.)

Meanwhile, Mars is in “opposition” this month. This is when a planet and the sun are directly opposite each other, with Earth in between. This celestial event occurs approximately every two years for the Red Planet.

The opposition occurs “around the time the planet is closest to Earth, making it appear at its largest and brightest,” NASA wrote.

For those planning to spot the cosmic alignment, NASA said Venus and Saturn will be visible in the southwest for the first two hours after dark. At that time, Jupiter will shine overhead while Mars rises in the east. According to NASA, a simple way to tell a star from a planet is that planets tend to shine steadily while stars twinkle.

In June 2024, a parade of planets featuring Saturn, the Moon, Mars and Jupiter was visible in the morning sky, but only two planets could be observed with the naked eye.