The planetary alignment – or planet parade – of January 2025 saw six planets in the night sky all at once: Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Understandably, the hype and anticipation surrounding this event was huge, with many stargazers getting excited at the prospect of seeing a multitude of Solar System worlds in the same view.
Now, news is making headlines that Mercury will join the planet parade in late February 2025 and make for a seven-planet alignment.
But just how visible will this seven-planet alignment on 28 February be, and is it really something to get worked up about?
Let's take a look at what the planets are doing towards the end of the month.
Planet alignment explained
As we described in our guide to the January 2025 planet alignment, it's not surprising, or even uncommon, for multiple planets of the Solar System to be visible in the sky at once.
Nor is it surprising for multiple planets to be visible in a line.
The caveat, however, is that the line in question is a curved line that stretches across the sky and is known as the ecliptic.
The ecliptic is the path that the Sun traces across the sky, and is a result of our Solar System having formed from a disc of material surrounding our newborn Sun.
All the planets – Earth included – orbit in the same plane around the Sun, and so the planets occupy the same area of the night sky that the Sun occupies during the day.
The planets are always found more or less along this imaginary line, and this is one of the best ways of telling whether you're looking at a planet or a star in the night sky.
If you're standing in your garden at night and can see a bright point of light in the sky, think about where the Sun is positioned throughout the day.
Is the bright point of light nowhere near where the Sun would be? Then it can't be a planet.
The ecliptic is why planetary alignments occur: when multiple planets are visible, they'll be visible along this line.
Seven-planet parade in February 2025
All of which brings us back to the seven-planet parade supposedly set to dazzle us in late February 2025, with 28 February being the date touted by some as the best time to see this event.
Yes, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will still be visible and conveniently placed in the evening sky, late February. But what about the rest?
Venus
Venus has been spectacular throughout January and February 2025, and is still visible in the evening twilight on 28 February 2025.
But it's getting low, and the amount of time it it will be observable in a dark sky after sunset is diminishing.
By the end of February, you can see it low in the west after sunset.
Mars
Mars, having reached opposition in January 2025, is still high in the sky and favourable for viewing in late February.
Around 21:00 UTC you'll see it in high in the south.
The Red Planet will continue to be visible even through early March 2025, having a nice encounter with the Moon on 9 March.
By the end of March, however, Mars will have dimmed, shrunk and be more tricky to see even through a telescope.
Jupiter
The gas giant Jupiter, too, will be still be a great planet to observe in late February, visibly bright under dark skies long after sunset.
You can see it in the southwest around 20:30 UTC.
As has been the case throughout January and February 2025, the constellation Orion is a great marker for spotting Jupiter and Mars.
Mars appears up and to the left of Orion; Jupiter appears up and to the right.
Uranus
Uranus is technically visible with the naked eye, but you'll need good eyesight and clear, dark skies to see it.
These conditions become less achievable towards the end of February, but Uranus is still there, visible near Jupiter and below the Pleiades star cluster in the west-southwest under darkness.
Saturn
Now on to the trickier planets to see at the end of February, and we'll start with Saturn.
Saturn was a great planet to observe at the start of the year, sitting below Venus in the twilight and visible in the early-darkening skies in early January 2025.
By late February, however, it's pretty much unviable, sitting very close to the Sun in the sky, and effectively setting at the same time as the Sun in the west.
Neptune
Neptune requires a good pair of binoculars or a telescope if you want to see it, even at the best of times.
Unfortunately, late February is certainly not one of the best times to see Neptune.
Like Saturn, it essentially sets with the Sun in the west by late February, and will be swallowed by twilight.
By the time darkness falls, Neptune will be below the horizon.
Mercury
Mercury, the innermost planet, is supposed to be the extra seventh planet that completes this planet parade, making all Solar System worlds visible in the sky at once on 28 February 2025.
Saturn and Neptune are unviable for observing in late February, but can can Mercury offer us?
Mercury reached superior conjunction on 9 February 2025, which is the point at which the planet passed round the far side of the Sun, from Earth's perspective.
At this point it was completely lost in the Sun's glare, but by late February it will begin to be ever-so-slightly better for observing, if only for a brief period.
On 24 February 2025, Mercury sets 1 hour and 10 minutes after the Sun and is bright, but very low in the sky.
On 25 February, Mercury and Saturn will be close together in the evening sky, separated by just 1.5° in the west-southwest.
But they'll be tricky to see, low towards the horizon and struggling to be discernible in the twilight.
By 28 February, Mercury should be visible in the west-southwest shortly after sunset, but again you'll need a very clear horizon if you want to catch it before it sets.
So what will we see?
If you're intending to head out on 28 February 2025 and see seven Solar System planets dazzlingly bright and arranged beautifully in a line across the sky, you're likely to be disappointed.
Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus are all still visible, but Mercury, Saturn and Neptune will be very difficult to see.
The prospect of all seven of these planets being visible in one view at the same time?
Even if you did have a completely flat, uncluttered horizon and clear skies, you might be able to make out a majority of the planets on show – Saturn and Mercury maybe included – but Neptune's window for observing has closed by this point.
In short? The 'seven-planet' parade of 28 February 2025 is not the spectacular event many are billing it as, but some of the best Solar System worlds are still visible on this date.
And as we head into March, even Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Uranus will become more difficult to see.
Our advice? Don't focus too much on the seven-planet parade. Instead, enjoy the planets that you can see, while you still can!
Share your planet observations and images with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com
