7 planets in the planetary alignment on February 28, 2025
An extremely rare planetary alignment will take place on February 28, 2025. Don't miss it — an event like this won’t happen again this decade!
In the evening, just after sunset, seven planets — Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter, and Mars — will align in the sky. Four of them (Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars) will be easily visible to the naked eye. For Uranus and Neptune, get a pair of binoculars or a small telescope. Saturn will be the most difficult target to see — you'll need to know the exact time for your exact location as the planet hangs close to the Sun.
Here are some details about each planet:
Reddish Mars (mag -0.4) will be highest in the sky, high above the southern horizon in the constellation Gemini.
Jupiter (mag -2.3), the second brightest planet, will be a little lower, in the constellation Taurus.
The next planet is Uranus (mag 5.8) in the constellation Aries, near the border of Taurus. Theoretically, it can be seen with the naked eye, but it requires a perfectly dark, clear sky, so we recommend using a pair of binoculars.
By the way, this planetary alignment coincides with the New Moon, so you'll have a perfect chance to observe fainter objects like Uranus or Neptune!
Closer to the western horizon, in Pisces, you'll find brilliant Venus (mag -4.8), the brightest planet in our sky. Also in Pisces, just above the western horizon, is Neptune (mag 7.8), the faintest planet. You'll need at least a pair of powerful binoculars to see it.
Look even closer to the horizon to find elusive Mercury (mag -1.2). It'll be in the constellation Aquarius, close to the Sun.
And finally, we got to golden Saturn (mag 1.1), the most difficult planet to see in this alignment. Although it's usually bright enough to be easily visible in the night sky, this time, it's very close to the Sun. To see the planet in Aquarius, find a time when the Sun is already below the horizon, but Saturn hasn't yet set in your location. The free astronomy app Star Walk 2 will help you — just launch the app, find Saturn on the sky map, and choose the perfect time using the Time Machine at the top right corner of the screen.