A rare parade of six planets lights up the British sky in a powerful new astrophoto shot by an award-winning photographer Josh Dury.
“As the light faded and with clear skies overhead, it was a real joy to witness the 2026 Planet Parade. With Venus visible shortly after sunset, Mercury and Saturn soon made their presence known,” Dury told Space.com in an email. “The moon and Jupiter were clearly visible, with Uranus is located near Pleiades star cluster (M45), and Neptune near Saturn.”
The full parade includes six of the seven planets visible to the naked eye: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. (March is the only one missing from the show.) Until February 28, you can probably spot at least some of these planets above the horizon — but to see them all, you’ll probably need binoculars or a telescope, as well as an unobstructed western view. (And that assumes the sky will be clear enough in a narrow, half-hour window.)
Dury, an experienced astrophotographer, said that even he found it a challenge to capture all these planets. “Framing the image would prove challenging because of the scale of the parade of planets,” he said, as it required him to pull out a lens to capture nearly 180 degrees of the sky.
Several obstacles also arose: “The brightness of the waning twilight and the first quarter moon also presented other obstacles. As a result, I needed the light to fade as much as possible to document and confirm the positions of the fainter planets,” said Dury.
Dury used an ultra-wide-angle lens to get as much of the sky as possible, showing Jupiter in the southeast at one end and Venus at the left. A Sigma 15mm diagonal fisheye lens allows him to capture a nearly 180-degree viewpoint. The fainter planets shine out thanks to Dury’s use of a diffuse filter, NiSi Starsoft, “to increase the surface brightness of the planets,” Dury said.
Aside from the celestial vistas, Dury also included a telecommunications memorial in the picture. The compilation of planets and telecommunications “evokes the narrative of the search for life on other planets amid the ongoing planetary alignment,” he said.
Dury enjoyed the special moment in the sky, but it also brought back some memories from another lineup last year. “As opposed to big planet parade in 2025Mars is now visible on the opposite side of the sun at dawn,” he said, noting that a year ago it was possible to see all seven planets with the naked eye at once.
If you are looking for a telescope or binoculars to observe the planets, our guides for best binoculars offer and that best telescope offer can help. Our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography can help you get ready to capture the next amazing skywatching event.
