Upcoming Planetary Alignment!

Every so often, multiple planets align along the ecliptic- the same path the Sun travels each year- at just the right time. When this happens, the planets appear deceivingly close together in an arch-like formation, even though they're millions of miles apart. The surrounding days of March 28th will be a perfect example of this! Depending on the time of day and what kind of equipment you have available, you may be able to see five planets in conjunction- Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus. The last time we were able to see a five-planet planetary conjunction was in 2020, so although it's not necessarily rare, it'll be incredibly beautiful to observe and something you won't want to miss!

When viewing, Jupiter and Mercury will be in the lower west following sunset, so they will be much harder to view than the others, even with binoculars and a telescope. Mars, however, will be a beaming shade of orange in the southwest portion of the sky. As for Venus, the brightest planet in the Solar System- it'll be hard to miss and can be spotted by the naked eye. Uranus may be a tricky planet to view unless you have a telescope, as it tends to blend in with the stars. Even if you aren't able to distinguish each planet, we hope you're able to have a view that's out of this world!