Sky-watchers can catch a rare six-planet parade before sunrise on Monday, 25 August, with Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn shining bright and Mercury briefly visible with binoculars – the next won’t come until 2040.

The parade will be best seen about an hour before sunrise, when Venus and Jupiter dominate the eastern sky around 12 degrees apart –  approximately the width of a clenched fist at arm's length. Saturn will glow in the south-west, higher and easier to spot than Mercury, though dimmer than the other planets.

Mercury will be the hardest to identify, climbing no more than 10 degrees above the horizon about 45 minutes before dawn. Clear, unobstructed views to the east will give observers the best chance of spotting it. NASA notes the planet will be visible until around 26 August, after which it disappears into the Sun’s glare, reducing the parade to five planets.

Astronomers point out that this event is not a planetary alignment, the planets only appear strung out in a line because they orbit the Sun within the same flat plane known as the ecliptic – the path the Sun traces across the sky.

The next comparable event will not take place until October 2028, but only five planets will be visible before sunrise. It will not be until 2040 another six-planet parade will be visible.

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