I’ve always loved learning about the planets and stars, but it sure takes a lot to get me outside on a cold, dark night to see them with my own eyes. This week, though, there’s a celestial lineup I don’t want to miss—and you shouldn’t either!
On Tuesday, five of the solar system’s eight planets (Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Mars) will be visible together, lined up in the night sky.
This is known as a planetary alignment, where the planets involved appear to parade across the sky in an orderly fashion. And I really mean you don’t want to miss this one—the next alignment featuring this many planets won’t be until 2040.
What’s the big deal here?
Although there have been some wild theories about strange happenings during planetary alignments—like an increase in natural disasters—those have generally been debunked. Instead, the reason a planetary alignment is a big deal