February’s ‘rare planetary alignment’ peaks tonight — here’s what to look for in the planet parade

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Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Mercury are participating in a “planetary parade” this week, but your ability to spot them will depend on preparation, equipment and, as always, a little luck with the weather.

Most of this week planetary action with the naked eye will take place low in the western sky, which is where the aforementioned preparation comes in. Be sure to stake out an elevated location with a clear view of the horizon well in advance – you can use a stargazing app for smartphone to determine exactly where the planets will be in your local environment, so there’s no need to guess.

Do so and you will have a rare, albeit difficult, opportunity to spot Mercury shining 10 degrees – about the width of your clenched fist held at arm’s length – above the late winter horizon, with Venus near his left, wading in the glow of the setting sun. Saturnmeanwhile, will shine less than 10 degrees to the upper left of Venus, with a distant cousin lurking nearby, but more on that later.

Mercury and Venus will follow the sun out of sight about an hour after sunset, briefly becoming more visible as the sky darkens and they move closer to the horizon. Jupitermeanwhile, will shine high in the eastern sky, with the waxing gibbous moon below, obscuring the sky. stars of the Cancer constellation with its reflected light.

The next two planets will need a little extra magnification to spot – and even then you’ll have the odds stacked against you.

The ice giant Neptune will be positioned two degrees to the right of Saturn, but will be too dark to be spotted with the naked eye. Under dark skies, a telescope with an aperture of 8 inches (200 millimeters) or larger can reveal its tiny bluish disk. However, its position low on the horizon and close to the glow of our parent star will make it a challenge to spot on the nights surrounding February 28. As always, great care must be taken to ensure that the sun is firmly below the horizon before pointing the telescopic equipment in its general direction.

Uranusmeanwhile, can be found by scanning with your telescope the part of the sky located 5 degrees below the Pleiades open star cluster, to the right of the “V” star formation in the Taurus constellation in the hours following sunset. Again, those new to the night sky may want to use a smartphone astronomy appwhich uses augmented reality technology to help you locate everything, from constellations and from planets to galaxies and meteor shower radiant.

Award-winning night sky photographer Josh Dury tackled the scale of the scene as well as the glow of the setting sun and other challenges to capture a stunning long exposure view of the planetary parade earlier this week as it lit up the skies over southern England.

To learn more, check out our handy guide to the equipment needed to see and photograph the planets. If you love photography, why not also read our roundup of the best cameras and lenses for capturing the night sky?

Editor’s note: If you would like to share your planetary astrophotography with Space.com readers, please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.