Planet parade

  Let’s find out what a planet parade is, when it happens and how to see it. What is a planet parade? Although there is no official scientific term ‘planet parade’, it is widely used in astronomy to denote an astronomical event that takes place when planets of the Solar system line up in a row in the same area of the sky, as seen by observers from Earth. There is no single definition of this phenomenon. These are the three most commonly used: An astronomical event that occurs when planets line up in a row on one side of the Sun at the same time, as seen up above the plane of our Solar system. Three planets align on one side of the Sun simultaneously two times a year, four planets – once a year, five planets – once in every nineteen years, and all eight planets of the Solar system – once in about one hundred seventy years. A visual phenomenon that occurs when planets of the Solar system appear in a small sector of the sky at the same time regardless of their visibility conditions, f...