A parade of planets will soon be visible in the night sky, a phenomenon once regarded as ‘an omen from the gods,’ signaling significant events on Earth.
The cosmic wonder, set for January 21, will see Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus appear positioned in a line from Earth’s perspective.
The parade of planets should be visible in the US, Canada and Mexico.
The best time to view it from the Northern Hemisphere will be around 8:30pm ET.
People should look in the southeastern sky where Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn will be visible to the naked eye, but a telescope will be needed to see Neptune and Uranus.
Planetary alignments have fascinated humankind for millenniums with recorded evidence found in ancient Egyptian temples, Babylonian tablets and Chinese calendars.
But the cosmic wonder has been famously associated with ancient Mayan civilization that interpreted it as a warning from the gods that would result in tragedy on Earth.
But for this parade of planets, astrologists predict a period of enlightenment, transformation, purification, and amplification of spiritual energy.
The cosmic wonder, set for January 21, will see Venus , Mars , Jupiter , Saturn , Neptune and Uranus appear positioned in a line from Earth’s perspective
Planetary alignments occur when several planets appear on the same side of the sun.
From Earth, this makes it appear that all the planets are arranged in a long diagonal line stretching from East to South across the night sky.
The six planets will slowly move into formation leading up to January 21 and be visible for about four weeks after.
Preston Dyches, public engagement specialist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told ABC News Venus and Saturn will be in conjunction, meaning they will appear closest to each other.
Jupiter will shine the brightest in the southern region of the sky, while Mars to the east will have a reddish glow.
And Saturn is predicted to appear with a yellow hue.
‘Uranus and Neptune, two very distant ice giant planets out in our solar system, are also there in the sky,’ Dyches said. ‘But they are very faint.’
Planetary alignments have fascinated humankind for millenniums with recorded evidence found in ancient Egyptian temples, Babylonian tablets and Chinese calendars
Mercury will join to make it a parade in March, making the same alignment last seen in June 2024.
However, Mercury, Saturn and Neptune will eventually drift away shortly after.
As soon as it’s dark, Venus, Saturn and Neptune will only be visible for a couple hours before tucking into the horizon for the evening.
For those who want to see the whole show, astronomers have stated that a telescope with at least an 8-inch aperture at 50 times magnification is needed to see Uranus and its rings.
To see Neptune, maintain the same aperture but increase the magnification to 150.
But some apps help enhance views without a telescope, such as Stellarium.
Using your location, the app identifies stars, connects constellations, planets and other outer-atmospheric objects and provides the user with information about what’s above them.
The app Star Walk 2 functions the same way and is free and available for download in the iOS app store.
As a bonus, these apps both work in real-time and detect things like satellites, comets, and other objects deep in space as they pass above you.
Although the parade of planets may appear as a horizontal alignment, it is only an illusion based on our perspective from Earth.
