Planetary Alignment 2024: How to see six planets align in the night sky in rare celestial event

If you look up at the night sky at the right time this week you'll see an unusual celestial event. | Canva/Getty Images

Many of us enjoyed seeing the Northern Lights recently, while a partial solar eclipse also had people looking to the stars earlier this year.

And next week there will be another fascinating phenomenon taking place in the heavens - a planetary alignment.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is a planetary alignment?

All the planets in our solar system travel around the sun in different orbits. When several of the planets are orbiting on the same side of the sun at the same time there is a phenomenon where they can all be seen in the night sky on Earth, appearing unusually close together. This is called a planetary alignment, or planet parade.

Of course the planets aren’t actually very close together - it just seems like it, in the manner of an optical illusion, and the closer the align the nearer they appear to be to each other.

When is the planetary alignment?

The planetary alignment will take place on Monday, June 3.

How many planets will be visible?

While planetary alignments aren’t particularly rare, it is unusual for them to include more than five planets. This Monday’s alignment will mean six out of the seven other planets in our solar system will be visible at the same time - Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn.

When is the best time to see the next planetary alignment?

Unfortunately for those of us who like a lie-in, you’ll have to be up pretty early for the best view of the planetary alignment. Aim to be looking to the skies around one hour before sunrise. In Scotland’s Central Belt that’ll be around 3.40am.

Will I need equipment to see the planetary alignment?

You should be able to see four of the six planets with the named eye - namely Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. You’ll need a decent pair of binoculars or a telescope to see the more distant Neptune and Uranus.

Where is the best place to see the planetary alignment?

Anywhere dark, with little in the way of artificial light and a good view of the night sky is ideal - so it’s best to get out of the city.

Here are a few ideas for stargazing locations in Scotland.

Where in the night sky should I look?

The planets will be visible low in the eastern night sky, so you’ll need an unobstructed view. There are lots of free phone apps that can help you locate them by pointing your phone camera at the night sky, so download one and you’re good to go.

What do the planets look like in the night sky?

The key way to tell planets apart from stars in the night sky is that they don’t twinkle.

The easiest planet to see will be Jupiter, which will be the brightest object in the sky apart from the moon, so start there and then look for the other planets once your eye is in.

When is the next planetary alignment?

There’s not actually that long to wait for the next six-planet planetary alignement, with Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn visible again on August 28.

After that, there’s not another until 2025 - on January 18.

Can there be a seven planet planetary alignment?

Rarer still than a six planet alignment is when all seven of the other planets in our solar system align - Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Make a note in your diary for February 28, 2025, which is the next time it will happen.