How to See the 7 Planets Tonight in a Rare Planetary Parade

glamour.com:

, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn lining up in the evening sky. Four will probably be visible to the naked eye just after sunset.We chatted to astronomer Dr.

Megan Argo, Senior Lecturer in Astrophysics at the University of Central Lancashire, to find out how to see the planets tonight.Kind of what it sounds like.

When the planets happen to line up in their respective orbits around the sun, it's what astronomers call a “planetary parade”—because it kind of looks like the planets are all marching in a line, get it?“Planetary alignment is an astronomical event and a visual spectacle,” says Argo. “It might be more appropriately called planetary grouping, when it is possible to see more than one planet in the sky at the same time, not a straight line of them as is presumed.”This event is pretty rare—in fact, seven planets won't align again until 2040. “This is because planets orbit the Sun at different speeds, and they appear to move across the sky compared to the rest of the stars,” Argo says. “Occasionally, their orbits mean that planets appear in the same part of the sky from our perspective on Earth.

This is what we are seeing right now. Four or five planets at once is common, but it’s a rarity to have all seven visible at the same time.”“On February 28, and for a few days either side, this alignment will include seven planets: Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, , Mercury and Saturn,” says Argo.The best time to try and spot the planets tonight is just after sunset, but be warned: Catching all of the planets with the naked eye will be almost impossible.