This is how you will see the “planet parade” in 2026

This weekend, six worlds will line up in a rare ‘planetary parade’

By Joseph Howlett edited by Lee Billings

The planets are aligned. This Saturday we have a rare chance to see several of our closest cosmic neighbors in one sky. Six planets will come together for a spectacular “planetary parade” that you’ll be able to see all over the world – provided you have clear skies.

Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter will all be visible to the naked eye for between half an hour and an hour around dusk; they will appear in that order, extending upward from the horizon just after sunset. To see them, astronomers recommend going somewhere high up and clear of clouds because all the visible planets will be relatively low in the western sky. One of the lowest will be Mercury, the smallest planet and a rare sight from Earth. Only Mars will skip the planetary performance.

Those with a telescope will even be able to glimpse our two most distant celestial bodies, Neptune and Uranus. The two “ice giants” will be far weaker, but will also make their mark on this global, starlit stage.

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Our solar system’s planets orbit the sun in more or less the same plane because they all formed from the same disk of swirling gas and dust left behind when our sun was born. Their respective orbits are different, but every few years chance places them all on roughly the same side of the sun. By 2040, there will even be a night where you will be able to see all seven planets in a single sky.

So, especially if you’re in the northeastern United States, nature provides a perfect way to recover from blizzard-filled weeks spent indoors. Bundle up, grab a hot drink and march out into the evening for a front row seat to our planetary neighbors’ spectacular performance.

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