People gather to watch a planetary alignment, at a desert...

People gather to watch a planetary alignment, at a desert outside Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 26 January 2025.  Credit: ALI HAIDER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

This month, stargazers will be able to see seven planets in the evening sky, in a celestial event known as a great alignment. Five planets — Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Mercury — will be discernible with the naked eye. To see Neptune and Uranus you will need a telescope.

Jason Cousins, president of the Amateur Observers’ Society of New York, said, “to us on Earth, we see them scattered across the sky” rather than strictly aligned. But “you’ll be able to see them all in the sky” and that is unusual nevertheless.

Among these, Venus is the brightest and will be visible all month in the western sky. To the naked eye it will look like a very bright star; viewers with binoculars or a small telescope will be able to see the planet as a crescent. It will be at its brightest around Feb. 14, according to the website EarthSky.

Looking straight down in the western sky from Venus, Saturn will be the next-brightest of the planets. It is significantly dimmer than Venus, but with a small telescope — at least 30x magnification — you can see Saturn’s rings, according to Joe Rao, a lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium, writing in Space.com

Rao suggests interested viewers should catch the ringed planet in the first hour after sunset and early in the month; later in February it will be harder to see as it slips closer to the horizon.

Mars will be in the sky all month and for most of the night; it’s the last of the planets to set in the west, a couple hours before sunrise. 

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is recognizable by its silvery light, Rao wrote. Look for it high in the sky just after dusk, to the south. Jupiter's four largest moons — Europa, Io, Ganymede and Callisto — are viewable with binoculars or a small telescope.

Late in the month, Mercury will be visible near the horizon. The planet is the hardest to see, Cousins pointed out, as it is the one closest to the sun and is obscured by the bright light. And it is easily mistaken for a star as it is so small in the sky. But this month, careful viewers may be able to see it “if you have a good, open horizon to the setting sun,” Cousins said.

On Feb. 24, Mercury will appear close to Saturn. Scan the horizon with binoculars starting at 30 minutes after sunset, “two fist-widths at arm's length directly below Venus,” Rao advised. Mercury will be easier to see but close observers may find a faint Saturn nearby.

Experts advise that observers of the Parade of Planets, as this phenomenon is also called, start looking as soon as the sun sets. Best viewing spots will have an unobstructed view of the sky, away from streetlights and other artificial lighting.

Cousins said an elevated viewing point — say, the top of Bear Mountain — would be ideal.

On Long Island, the East End has less light pollution than the western part of the Island, which generally makes for better viewing. State parks allow visitors after hours for astronomical observation, but to park you will need a stargazing permit.

For those who would like a night sky tour and a magnified view of the planets — the best bet to see Uranus and Neptune — the Susan Rose Observatory at the Custer Institute in Southold is open to the public every Saturday from dusk until midnight.

The great alignment continues into early March. The next one will be in October 2028.

Get the latest news and more great videos at NewsdayTV Credit: Newsday

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