When is the next planet parade?
A “planet parade” is the popular name for an evening or morning when several planets are in the sky at the same time. This planet parade finder scans a whole year for your location, checks every dusk and every dawn, and lists the dates when four or more planets are visible together — or three, five or six if you prefer. It also shows today’s line-up, so it doubles as a planets alignment today check.
Each window comes with the best day, the planets involved and how far apart they are on the sky. Press Show sky to see a horizon sketch with the planets strung along the ecliptic, the line all planets follow. Everything is calculated in your browser.
How to use the Planet Parade & Alignment Finder
- Choose a city (or a dark-sky place) or enter your latitude, longitude and time zone; on a phone press Use my location.
- Pick the year — for example 2026 for “planet parade 2026”.
- Set how many planets must be visible together and the thresholds: minimum altitude, minimum distance from the Sun, and how dark the sky is when you look.
- Optionally limit the span on the sky, or count Uranus and Neptune.
- Read the next parade in the panel, scan the year chart, and press Show sky on any row to see how the planets line up.
Planet Parade & Alignment Finder features
Whole-year scan
About 730 twilight moments per year, each tested planet by planet.
Clear thresholds
Altitude, elongation from the Sun, Sun depression and an optional span — all visible and adjustable.
Year chart
One bar per evening and morning, so the parade seasons stand out at a glance.
Horizon sketch
Planets, the ecliptic and the Sun’s position below the horizon for the chosen moment.
Honest about faint planets
Uranus and Neptune are only counted when you tick the box, because they need optical aid.
How the finder decides
For each day it finds the moment the Sun’s centre sinks 6° below the horizon in the evening (the end of civil twilight) and the matching moment before sunrise; 9° or 12° gives a darker sky. At that moment a planet counts if it is at least 5° above a flat horizon (with atmospheric refraction) and at least 10° from the Sun. Bright Venus and Jupiter can be seen closer to the Sun; faint Mercury usually needs more. With a span limit, the largest group whose widest pair of planets fits inside the limit is kept. Consecutive days that reach the required number form one window, and the best day has the most planets and the tightest grouping.
Planet positions come from Paul Schlyter’s orbital elements with the main Jupiter–Saturn perturbations, the same code as the planets visible tonight page, accurate to an arcminute or two.
Do the planets really line up?
Not in space. The planets orbit in nearly the same plane, so from Earth they always appear along one great circle on the sky, the ecliptic. When several are on the same side of the Sun they seem to form an arc — that is the “alignment” in the news. They can be spread over 100° or more, and the arc tilts with your latitude and the season. A planet parade has no measurable effect on Earth; tides and gravity are not changed in any noticeable way.
From New Delhi the finder shows four planets — Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn — after sunset in late February 2026, and six on 28 February if Uranus and Neptune are counted, although Mercury and Venus sit low in twilight. A morning group of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Jupiter follows in November 2026.
Tips for seeing a parade
- Find a flat, open horizon in the direction of twilight — west after sunset, east before dawn.
- Start as soon as the sky darkens: the low planets set or the dawn brightens within half an hour.
- Use binoculars to find Mercury, Uranus and Neptune; scan slowly, never toward the Sun before it has set.
- Check the night with the star chart and the Moon with the moon phase calculator.
Planet Parade & Alignment Finder FAQ
When is the next planet parade?
Pick your city and the current year: the panel shows the next window with four or more planets, its best day and the planets involved.
Is there a planets alignment today or tonight?
The line under the panel lists how many planets are up together this evening and at the next dawn from your location.
When is the planet parade 2026 in India?
From New Delhi the finder shows a four-planet evening in late February 2026 and a four-planet morning in November 2026 with the default settings. Choose your own city for exact dates.
Why do other websites give different dates?
They use different thresholds — often counting Uranus and Neptune, or planets too close to the Sun to see. Here every threshold is shown and adjustable.
Can I see all the planets with the naked eye?
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, yes. Uranus is at the limit of the naked eye under dark skies and Neptune always needs binoculars or a telescope.
Do the planets align in a straight line?
No. They follow the ecliptic, a curved arc across the sky, and are rarely closer than tens of degrees apart during a parade.