Exact date Mercury will join 'rare' planet parade in the night sky

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A "spectacular" skywatching event has captured the attention of many in recent weeks after a rare planetary alignment became visible in January 2025.

Four planets – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn – have been shining brightly, visible to the naked eye, with Uranus and Neptune seen through a telescope.

Now, astronomers are gearing up for the parade's grand finale as Mercury becomes visible, coming to complete the alignment. "This kind of event is rare," said Albert Zijlstra, Professor of Astrophysics at The University of Manchester. "September 8 2040 is the next time the five bright planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury) are visible simultaneously." A planetary alignment, also known as a planetary parade, is an astronomical term used to describe when planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time.

Planets are technically always "aligned" because they orbit the solar system on the same plane (called the ecliptic). However, it's rare to see five or six planets in the sky at once – and even more rare to see seven! "For all seven to be present, there is a chance to see that on 6 May, 2492," added Prof Zijlstra, who said the four easily visible planets in the evening sky have been "quite spectacular over the past weeks".