The next parade every Wyomingite should put on their calendar will start just after sunset Friday and Saturday. The latest parade of planets will have six planets aligned in an arch across the night sky.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune will all be out and visible in the planetary parade. And this time, the moon won’t be crashing the parade.
“The planets won’t be particularly close together, but they’ll all be visible in one shot,” said Max Gilbraith, planetarium coordinator for the University of Wyoming, “and with no moon right now, we have a better chance of seeing the dimmer planets.”
Parade Route
Once the sun sets, Saturn will be the westernmost planet visible in the parade of planets on Friday and Saturday nights. Venus will be nearby and higher in the sky.
Neptune and Uranus are the next planets in the parade. Both can be seen with binoculars or a small telescope, but they are typically tricky to spot because their distance from Earth makes them dim and hard to distinguish from the surrounding stars.
Jupiter will be the highest planet in the sky those nights, almost directly south. Mars will be bringing up the rear in the eastern half of the sky.
Like any parade, there’s an optimal time and place to watch this parade of planets. Gilbraith said solar system spectators will want to get to the highest spot they can between 5:10 and 8 p.m. to see all six planets.
“If there’s a little sky glow from the sun at twilight, you’ll probably miss Neptune, but it’s not really the star of the show,” he said. “Venus will set by 8:30 p.m., so you’ll probably want to see the parade of planets by 8 p.m.”
All Aligned
The eight planets in the solar system are constantly pirouetting through their celestial orbits. A parade of planets occurs when planets are positioned in a way that makes an arch across the sky, as seen from the surface of Earth.
Gilbraith said parades of planets aren’t uncommon, but it’s still rare and unique to see six of seven planets in one night and be able to follow one to the other.
“You can still have a parade of planets with only two or three planets,” he said. “It’s not a Solar System alignment, just how they appear to us on Earth. It’s like they’re tailing us through the sky.”
The last parade of planets occurred on June 4, 2024. Jupiter, Mercury, Uranus, Mars, Neptune and Saturn aligned with a crescent moon, the first time such an alignment was visible from Earth in 30 years.
Mercury won’t be visible along this parade route. It will appear in the morning sky long after Venus and Saturn have sunk below the horizon.
The moon has also been snubbed from this parade, but that’s good news for stargazers. It will be below 25% illumination on both nights and won’t rise until 2:45 a.m.
“With no light from the moon, it’ll be that much easier to see everything,” Gilbraith said.
Perfect View Or Perfect Planets?
Wyomingites won’t have to wait long for the next parade of planets. Another one will occur on the night of Feb. 28, but that doesn’t mean anyone should want to miss this weekend’s parade.
Gilbraith said the next parade will be “more astrologically perfect” but less impressive to spectators. There will be a brief moment when all seven planets are visible in the night sky, but it will be extremely difficult to see all of them at once.
“Saturn will be there, but it’s so close to the sun that you won’t see it,” he said. “Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and the moon will be there. It’s more astrologically perfect for anyone who cares about that.”
I Spy
When the parade of planets begins on Friday and Saturday nights, it’ll be easy for people to find Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, which are among the brightest objects in the night sky. The other two planets, Uranus and Neptune, will require more effort.
Most people struggle to see Uranus, but Gilbraith said it will be in a better voyeuristic position for this parade of planets.
“Since Uranus will be fairly high in the sky, I think most people will get a good glimpse of it,” he said. “With binoculars, you should see it pretty clearly.”
Neptune, however, might be beyond the skills of an amateur astronomer. Nevertheless, it won’t be impossible to find.
“If you have access to a really good telescope, you might pick up Neptune,” he said.
By 8:30 p.m., Saturn will set, and the parade of planets will officially be over, even if the others will still be stretched across the sky. With clear skies and no moonlight, Gilbraith believes this parade is worth a look.
“It takes several months for the planets to catch up with each other, and sometimes they’re on the other side of the sun out of place,” he said. “It’s rare to see them like this.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
