A planetary alignment, or a "planet parade" according to the internet, will grace our night sky just after dusk, according to NASA. We'll see six planets in the first part of February – Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Saturn – and on Feb. 28, they'll be joined by Mercury.
Venus and Saturn will be in conjunction this weekend, appearing side by side in the night sky during January's post-sunset "planet parade."
Though the planets are always “aligned,” seeing more than four in the sky is more uncommon. February’s lineup is a chance to glimpse all seven in one sweeping view.
The new moon of January will be at 7:36 a.m. Eastern Time on Jan. 29, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and two days later a young moon will pass near Saturn and near Venus as they cluster together in the evening sky.
This is the last chance to catch the pair in conjunction this year—with Venus set to be unusually bright in the night sky.
Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn should be visible to the naked eye. The six planets will be visible until February 9. You'll need a high-powered viewing device like a telescope to spot Neptune and Uranus. Look toward the southeastern to southwestern sky.
“Saturday evening, January 18: Venus and Saturn will appear nearest to each other. As evening twilight ends at 6:15 p.m. EST, Venus will be 30 degrees above the southwestern horizon with Saturn 2.2 degrees to the lower left. Saturn will set first on the western horizon almost 3 hours later at 9:04 p.m.”
Wednesday, February 5 First Quarter Moon occurs at 3:02 A.M. EST. Nearly half a day later, the Moon passes 5° north of Uranus at 4 P.M. EST, located at the border between Aries and Taurus.
In this episode, Dave Eicher invites you to go out and watch a close pairing of two naked-eye planets: Venus and Saturn. The two will be in the southwestern evening sky, and will be closest during the week of January 19.
Orion the Hunter and Taurus the Bull face off in the southern sky in early February as soon as it gets dark. Taurus is home to two of the brightest star clusters, the Pleiades and Hyades. Both are visible with the naked eye and binoculars.
To help people view the parade, Mr Dury has shared photographs detailing where the planets are appearing in the sky. "The bright planets will certainly be visible like Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. "For the dimmer planets, Uranus and Neptune, you may want to use a pair of binoculars or a small telescope to see those," he said.
As Venus and Saturn meet in Pisces' sign, there's a focus on their life path. Relationships must bring out the best in them to get the stamp of approval from authoritative Saturn. If a connection doesn't challenge Pisces to grow in its emotional intelligence, intuition, and overall self-development, its flaws will undoubtedly become apparent.