This Friday evening, an extraordinary planetary parade will take place, featuring seven planets appearing in a line-like formation across the night sky. 

While the planets won’t be in a perfectly straight line, they will be closely grouped, creating a great spectacle for star gazers. This rare alignment is significant because the planets seldom come together in such formation due to their unique speeds and orbits. The 7-planet line up won’t happen again until 2040!   

Ideally, the time to see this event would be as soon as the sun sets! The planets will be visible near the horizon. As the evening proceeds, some planets will begin to dip below the horizon. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn will be visible with the naked eye, while Mercury, Uranus and Neptune will be faint, calling for the use of a telescope or binoculars. 

However, with all this talk about the planets, will Michiana have a good view of this event? Not likely. Michiana may not have the best viewing conditions due to mostly cloudy skies. For a clearer view, consider heading south near central Indiana, where partly cloudy skies are expected.  

There will also be opportunities to see some planets on Saturday and Sunday evening as skies begin to clear.  

If you miss this alignment all together, another smaller line up will occur this summer in August!