A rare parade of the planets will occur in the sky, offering us a fascinating spectacle.
Last month, six planets met in the starry night. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune offered us a great celestial ballet, the interesting opportunity to look up to admire Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn to the naked eye! If you like this vision, we have good news for you: this month of February, Mercury joins the party, this time bringing together seven planets of the solar system in the sky.
This planetary parade will occur around Friday, February 28, 2025. For several nights, you can contemplate the seven neighbors of the Earth shine above our heads. To enjoy 100% of the show, be there at sunset when the first planets will become visible. Do not hesitate to use a sky card such as Stellarium or Sky Tonight applications to guide you. To differentiate the stars of the planets, remember that the latter reflect sunlight continuously, unlike the stars that sparkle, varying their brightness.
The planets will not really form a straight line on the celestial vault. If the sky is cleared, we will thus find Mars and its reddish radiance accompanied by Jupiter above the southern horizon. Uranus will be visible slightly further west. Finally, if you run your eyes even further west, you should see four planets grouped above the horizon: the very brilliant Venus, as well as Neptune, Saturn and Mercury. As in January, to distinguish distant Uranus and Neptune, you will have to bring a telescope, but no worries, the show will be appreciated even without equipment.
Although we speak of “alignment” to designate this phenomenon, do not get me wrong: the planets will not be placed online in the solar system. This term simply refers to the fact that they align themselves more or less in an apparent way in our earthly sky and seeming close to each other. But this is only a visual effect linked to their position in relation to the earth. However, this is a very interesting event that offers us the opportunity to contemplate them … at a glance!