How to see seven planets lining up in ‘parade' in UK this week
Seven planets are set to line up this week and all will be visible from the UK in the evening sky.
The planetary parade of Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn visible this week will be the last time seven planets can be seen so clearly at the same time until 2040.
The best opportunity for stargazers to see as many planets as possible will be just after sunset on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and particularly Friday this week.
The latest parade goes one better than last month's event, when six planets - Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune - could be seen.
But now Mercury has joined the planetary party, as they all gather closely on one side of the Sun.
The BBC's Sky at Night magazine said: 'There is an imaginary line that the path of the Sun traces across the daytime sky, and this is known as the 'ecliptic'.
'The ecliptic is due to the fact that Earth and all the other Solar System planets formed out of the same flat disc of gas and dust that once surrounded our infant Sun.
'This means the planets in the Solar System all occupy roughly the same orbital plane – Earth included – and therefore all more or less follow the line of the ecliptic in the sky. So, when multiple planets are visible in the sky, they'll located be roughly along this line.'
It is thought that four of the planets - Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Mars, will be largely visible, while Saturn may be tricker to see as it will be low on the horizon.
A telescope will be needed to see the other two planets, Uranus and Neptune.
Royal Observatories Greenwich said: "In late February, Mercury will also join the parade, creating a total of seven planets on display in the sky.
"However, by this point it will be much more difficult to see Saturn and Neptune as they will be very low on the southwestern horizon after sunset."
It is thought the best time to see the planetary parade will be just after sunset on Friday 28 February because Mercury will be higher in the sky.
Experts advise finding a dark area, and using a sky mapper app to track down the planets.
Planetary alignments are relatively common, but alignments of five or six planets are rarer, and alignments of seven planets even more so.
Alignments of all eight planets occur once every 180 years or so.
The next planetary alignment of at least five planets will be towards the end of October 2028, and then again in February 2034.
The next alignment of seven planets is forecast to happen in 2040.
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