Don’t believe the hype with “Planet Alignment” stories

You may have seen in some news reports that all the planets will be visible Friday night, February 28, 2025, in the early night sky. While this rare event is true, its not going to be as spectacular as some media outlets are making it out to be.

All 8 planets, Earth included, orbit at different speeds and distances around the sun, so at any given moment, they are spread out around the sun.

As the planets orbit at different rates, at some point, it’s inevitable that they are all on the same side of the sun as our side of Earth is in night time. And that time is now. This is why they are all in the night sky at the same time.

BUT…

The only Planets you can make out as planets with your unaided eye is Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars, and they’ve been out just after sunset for the last two months. So visually, for most of us, nothing changes tonight. You would need a pretty powerful telescope to see the remaining three.

So if the skies clear enough, you will see Saturn on the western horizon just after sunset. Venus is the brightest object in the sky other than the moon. You will easily spot that one about 45 degrees up to the west. Jupiter will be close to straight up, again slightly brighter than the surrounding stars, and Mars can be spotted by its redness, just east of Jupiter.

If we’re lucky and the clouds part enough, the best time to look will be at 6:31 PM when a recently launched string of 21 Starlink satellites move across the sky passing very close to Venus and Jupiter. They will come up from the western horizon and go almost straight overhead.

If it is too cloudy tonight, we get another chance with clearer skies tomorrow night at 6:34 PM in about the same location.

If you do go out tonight, bundle up as the wind will be strong with the temperatures falling.