Recently, there have been social media posts talking about how all the planets will be visible in the night sky, in a line, and at the end of January. Is this really the case? No, not really. But you will be able to see a cool planetary lineup while enjoying the winter months.

First of all, why do the planets appear in a line?

The planets in our solar system pretty much orbit the sun on a plane. Not like an airplane, but a flat plane known as the ecliptic. It’s the gravitational trajectory the planets take along their path around the sun and it’s a 2-dimensional representation of the 3-dimensional plane of our solar system.

The planets reside at different distances apart but we can still see them because they’re so large and they reflect line from the sun. So, if there’s more than one planet visible up in the night sky, they’ll appear in a line as they all follow the path of this ecliptic.

In January and February of 2025, you can find four bright planets up in the sky and two faint planets.

In the first couple of hours after dark, you’ll find Venus and Saturn in the southwest, Jupiter high overhead, and Mars in the east. (Uranus and Neptune are there too, but a telescope is needed to see them.) Planets always appear along a line in the sky, so the “alignment” isn’t special. What’s less common is seeing four or five bright planets at once, which doesn’t happen every year.

All month after dark, you’ll find Venus and Saturn in the southwest for the first couple of hours, while Jupiter shines brightly high overhead, and Mars rises in the east. Uranus and Neptune are there too, technically, but they don’t appear as “bright planets.” These multi-planet viewing opportunities aren’t super rare, but they don’t happen every year, so it’s worth checking it out.