A stunning planetary alignment will light up the North Texas sky, visible from late January into February 2025.
You’ll want to keep an eye out for these planets in the days leading up to January 21 and for about four weeks after. Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn are easy to spot with the naked eye. But for Neptune and Uranus, you’ll need a telescope. Just look toward the southeastern to southwestern sky.
The best time to catch this show is right after sunset until about 8:30 p.m. You might still see Venus, Saturn, and Neptune on the horizon after that, but they’ll dip below by midnight. Mars, Jupiter, and Uranus will hang around a bit longer, with Mars setting just before sunrise.
To really enjoy this event, try to get away from the bright city lights of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
You might be wondering why these alignments happen. Well, all the planets orbit the Sun at different speeds and distances. Sometimes, they seem to line up from our view here on Earth, creating a cool celestial event.
Just a heads up, this isn’t a perfect straight line in space. It’s more like a bunch of planets appearing close together in the sky.
If you’re curious about when this will happen again, there are more alignments coming in 2025, with some featuring five to seven planets. And there are even major alignments scheduled for the next few centuries!
Here are a few dates to mark on your calendar:
– April 15, 2025 – Morning alignment of Neptune, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus.
– August 11, 2025 – Morning alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn.
– May 19, 2161 – All Solar System planets will align on one side of the Sun before dawn.
– November 7, 2176 – All Solar System planets will align on one side of the Sun after sunset.
– May 6, 2492 – All Solar System planets will align on one side of the Sun after sunset.
