Around 26–28 February, keen eyes are rewarded with a view of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune spread across the twilight sky.
Before getting into the details, let’s clear up a common misconception: the planets aren’t literally lining up in a row in space. There’s simply no such thing. A planetary parade is an optical alignment, a matter of perspective from our vantage point on Earth. Imagine sitting down in the Pétrusse Valley, where all the streetlamps happen to line up in a perfect row from where you’re looking: it’s just a beautiful trick of geometry, a ‘line of sight’ effect.
In the same way, a planetary parade is a coincidence that happens because of where we are standing in the Solar System at that exact moment.
The planets, however, are still millions of kilometres apart, and while they appear grouped in one section of our sky, they are not all bunched together in space, and no special gravitational or mystical forces are at play.
That said, let’s look at how the event unfolds.
The opening act: Venus and Jupiter
As the Sun sets around 6.15pm, making room for darkness, the leading actor enters the stage gleaming low in the west-southwest. It’s Venus, the ‘evening star’ and the brightest of the bunch; visible again this month and piercing through the twilight before most stars.
Higher up toward the south-southwest, Jupiter joins the action immediately after. The King of Planets appears as a big, steady beacon of light, dramatically brighter than all the stars around. Even from brightly lit city streets, Jupiter stands out confidently with its four Galilean moons.
The elusive guests: Saturn and Mercury
Two more planets become visible as the sky darkens, though they are far less obvious: Mercury and Saturn. Much dimmer than Venus and Jupiter, Saturn surfaces as a modest but steady point of light low in the west-southwest twilight, shining with a gentle golden hue. The ringed planet is right at the edge of visibility this month, before sinking into the Sun’s glare. Just in time to take part in the parade.
Mercury is notoriously hard to see as it never ventures too far from the Sun. Close to the horizon, it is often mistaken for an ordinary star. On the last days of the month, it makes a brief appearance not far from Saturn, looking like a faint star peeping out of the twilight. Technically, both Saturn and Mercury are visible to the naked eye, but binoculars make spotting them much easier and rewarding.
The challengers: Uranus and Neptune
The Ice Giants orbit the Sun at much longer distances than other planets and are too faint to be seen without aid. Binoculars (for Uranus) or a telescope (for Neptune) are necessary to observe them as two tiny dim points among the starry background.
Uranus lies in the southwestern sky just between Jupiter and the Venus/Mercury/Saturn group. Through binoculars it appears as a faint greenish star-like point. Neptune is the hardest planet to spot. The blue planet is tucked away near Saturn, effectively in the same area of west-southwest twilight, but even with optical aid it’s difficult to spot. It can therefore be considered the ‘bonus’ planet in this line-up: it’s up there, but it won’t show itself easily.
When and where to Look Up
The show plays out soon after sunset and it doesn’t require staying up late, but the viewing window is not extremely large. In Luxembourg, sunset at the end of February is around 6.15pm, and the planetary parade reaches its prime time about 30 to 45 minutes after (about 6.45pm). Timing is key: by 7pm, the parade effectively loses two members as Mercury and Saturn fall below the horizon.
Also, the planets span from the west toward the south for the parade, some hovering just a few degrees above the horizon. An unobstructed view in that direction, with no hills, trees, or tall buildings, is paramount to witnessing the event fully. Venus and Jupiter are bright enough to pierce through light pollution, so city-dwellers can definitely see those two planets without trouble.
Saturn and Mercury, however, are much tougher from a bright town centre, where the combination of twilight glow and city lights likely drowns them out. A short trip to the countryside is thus the safest option to ensure a good experience. The Grand Duchy boasts some excellent stargazing spots with low light pollution in the northern region (Oesling), with broad horizons and darker skies.
Witnessing cosmic events like this one is an opportunity to forget about tomorrow’s meeting or the traffic on the A6 and reconnect to the grand rhythm of the Solar System. So, mark your calendar for the end of February, cross your fingers for clear skies, and enjoy the planetary parade.
