— 4 planets in the morning sky, before sunrise (in 52 days)
Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter. A small four-planet gathering in the morning sky.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
Planetary alignments and planet parades: the next dates, and what they really are
A planetary alignment — or planet parade — is several planets visible in the same part of the sky at once. Here are the upcoming ones with dates and planets, the parades since 2022, and each one seen from above in the orrery, where you can watch how the planets have really arranged themselves around the Sun.
Next planet parade: 14 Nov 2026 — Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter in the morning sky, before sunrise (in 52 days).
Today (23 Sept 2026) the five naked-eye planets are spread across 205° of sky — no parade today. Evening sky: Mercury and Venus. Morning sky: Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. See every planet’s position right now.
Upcoming planet parades
Dates from Star Walk, NASA and Wikipedia, each checked against the orrery’s orbital model. The strip under each entry shows where the planets sit relative to the Sun on that date: left of the Sun is the morning sky, right of it the evening sky, and the further out, the longer the planet is up after sunset or before sunrise. Parades last a week or more either side of the date given.
— 4 planets in the morning sky, before sunrise (in 7 months)
Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Neptune. Four planets before sunrise; Neptune needs a telescope.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
— 5 planets in the morning sky, before sunrise (in 9 months)
Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Five planets in the morning sky.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
— 3 planets in the evening sky, after sunset (in 12 months)
Mercury, Venus and Mars. A mini parade of three planets after sunset.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
— 6 planets in the evening sky, after sunset (in 15 months)
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Six planets in the evening sky on Christmas Day; Jupiter is the one missing, over in the morning sky.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
— 5 planets in the evening sky, after sunset (in 16 months)
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Neptune. Five planets after sunset, two weeks after the Christmas parade.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
— 5 planets in the morning sky, before sunrise (in 2.1 years)
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. All five naked-eye planets before sunrise in late October 2028 (NASA gives the month, not a day); Saturn, near opposition, is up all night.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: NASA
— 7 planets in the evening sky, after sunset (in 7.4 years)
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. All seven planets in the evening sky — the next “great” parade after 2025.
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Star Walk
— 5 planets in the evening sky, after sunset (in 14.0 years)
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The five naked-eye planets packed into about 9° of sky after sunset — the tightest naked-eye cluster of the century (Wikipedia: within 7° of longitude on 12 September).
See it from above in the orrery · Source: Wikipedia
Recent planet parades
| Date | Planets | Sky | Relative to the Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Morning | See it from aboveSource: Star Walk | ||
| 6: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Evening | See it from aboveSource: Star Walk | ||
| 7: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Evening | See it from aboveSource: Wikipedia | ||
| 6: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Evening | See it from aboveSource: Wikipedia | ||
| 6: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Morning | See it from aboveSource: The Independent | ||
| 5: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus | Evening | See it from aboveSource: The Guardian | ||
| 7: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune | Morning | See it from aboveSource: Wikipedia |
What a planetary alignment really is
All the planets orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane, so from Earth they always appear along one line across the sky — the ecliptic, the same track the Sun and Moon follow. That is why a group of planets looks like a “line-up”. What makes a parade is simply that several planets happen to be on the same side of the Sun as seen from Earth, so they are all above the horizon in the same evening or morning sky. NASA notes that “planet parade” is not a technical term, and Wikipedia that it is “not a true alignment in space”: seen from above, the planets are spread around the Sun, as the “from above” links on this page show.
Sizes are loose. Star Walk calls three planets a mini parade, four small, five or six large, and all seven a great parade, and counts every planet gathering in a single quarter of the sky only seven times in this millennium. Three- and four-planet gatherings happen most years; five or six every few years; all seven a few times a decade. Uranus and Neptune are always too faint for the naked eye, so a “seven-planet” parade is five you can see plus two you can find with binoculars or a telescope — which is why sources disagree about how many parades there are: Wikipedia counts the next six-planet parade after 2025 as 2040, while Star Walk’s list includes the telescope-only planets and finds six on 25 December 2027.
Planets are easy to tell from stars: they shine with a steady light and do not twinkle, and Venus and Jupiter outshine every star. Mercury is always low in the twilight and needs a clear horizon; Uranus (binoculars) and Neptune (telescope) need a chart or an app.
True alignments, seen from above
The orrery can also find alignments in the physical sense — planets bunched together around the Sun in heliocentric longitude, which is what a top-down view shows. These are rarer and older than any parade. Each link opens the orrery on that day, looking down on the solar system:
- 7 March 1953 BC — the historic five-planet cluster recorded in Chinese chronicles, within a few degrees of each other around the Sun (7 March in the modern calendar; “February” in the Julian dates most books quote).
- 3 February 2230 BC — the tightest five-planet grouping in five thousand years: within 7° around the Sun.
- 21 August 1596 BC — all eight planets within 40°.
- 3 October 600 AD — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars within 1°.
- 13 September 1306 — the four giant planets within 7°.
- 8 September 2040 — the five naked-eye planets within about 9° of each other as seen from Earth, the tightest of the century.
- 25 September 2114 — the inner four planets within 2°.
- 7 April 2418 — five planets within 11°.
These come from scanning the same orbital model day by day across 3000 BC – 3000 AD; the whole list is in the orrery’s “Jump to a notable alignment” menu.
How to watch one
- Evening parades: start looking about 30–45 minutes after sunset, towards where the Sun went down, then sweep left and upwards along the ecliptic. Morning parades: the same, 45–60 minutes before sunrise, towards where the Sun will rise.
- Find a low, clear horizon in that direction — the innermost planet of the group (usually Mercury) sits closest to the Sun and sets or rises first.
- Bring binoculars for Uranus and Neptune, and a planetarium app or chart to know which faint “star” they are.
- The date is a peak, not a deadline: the arrangement changes slowly, so most parades are worth a look for a week or two either side.
Questions
What is a planetary alignment or planet parade?
Several planets visible in the same part of the sky at the same time, as seen from Earth. They appear along one line because they share an orbital plane; they are not lined up in space. Seen from above the solar system, the planets are spread around the Sun.
When is the next planetary alignment?
The card at the top of this page always names the next one. After the six-planet parade of 12 August 2026 come a small one on 14 November 2026 (Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter before sunrise), five planets on 2 July 2027 (morning), six on 25 December 2027 (evening), five on 8 January 2028 (evening) and all five naked-eye planets before sunrise in late October 2028. The next parade of all seven planets is on 3 February 2034, and on 8 September 2040 the five naked-eye planets crowd into about nine degrees of sky after sunset.
How often do planet parades happen?
Three or four planets most years; five or six every few years; all seven only a few times a decade — 24 June 2022, 28 February 2025 and next 3 February 2034. Star Walk counts all the planets in a single quarter of the sky just seven times this millennium.
Do planetary alignments affect the Earth?
No. The combined gravitational pull of all the other planets on Earth is tiny compared with the Moon’s, whatever their arrangement, so alignments have no measurable effect on tides, earthquakes, the weather or people. Their significance is that several planets are easy to see in one sweep of the sky.
Can I see a planet parade from Australia, the UK or the US?
Yes — from the whole world. What changes is the local time and how high the line of planets stands above the horizon. Evening parades are seen after local sunset and morning parades before local sunrise, on the date given and usually for a week or more either side. The ecliptic stands steeper from the tropics, and on spring evenings or autumn mornings, which lifts low planets such as Mercury clear of the horizon.
What is the difference between a planet parade and a conjunction?
A conjunction is two objects passing close together in the sky — the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on 21 December 2020, for example, which recurs about every twenty years (next in late 2040). A planet parade is several planets spread along the ecliptic in the same evening or morning sky; they can be tens of degrees apart and still count.
Sources
- Planetary parade — Wikipedia (the 2022, 2025 and 2040 parades; definition).
- Planetary alignments and planet parades — NASA Science skywatching (definition; late October 2028).
- Planet Parade 2026: when is the next planetary alignment? — Star Walk (2026–2028, 2034 and 2040 dates, size names), with its articles on the 28 February 2026 and 12 August 2026 parades.
- The Guardian, 28 March 2023 and The Independent, 3 June 2024 — the 2023 and 2024 parades.
- Positions on every date above were checked against this site’s own model — JPL/Standish Keplerian elements, the same ones behind the 3D orrery.