ToplineThe four planet-strong planet parade mistakenly called a planetary alignment by some currently visible to the naked eye in the night sky for a short time after sunset will peak this weekend as Venus reaches its most brilliant.Although six planets are in the night sky, only four are visible to the naked eye. (This is a ... [+] composite image using NASA images)gettyKey FactsMulti-planet sightings are not rare. Six planets (Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Saturn) are currently in the night sky, which occurs about once about every three years or less. However, only four planets Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn are visible to the naked eye.Stand outside shortly after sunset when you are and youll see Mars low in the east and Jupiter high in the southeast, with Uranus positioned in the south. Neptune, Venus and Saturn are all low in the west, so set soon after sunset. Earths rotates from west to east, so stars and planets appear to rise from below the eastern horizon and set below the western horizon.Other sights to see while you observe the parade of planets include the twin stars of Gemini next to Mars, Orions Belt and its spectacular nebula below Jupiter, and the glittering Pleiades open cluster of stars just to the right of Jupiter. All can be seen with the naked eye.A bright light in the sky after sunset, Venus is the most obvious planet to the naked eye. Shining in the western sky, it will reach -4.5 magnitude brightness on Sunday, Feb. 16, 2025, the brightest it will get in its current apparition. Venus is always the third-brightest object in the night sky, after the sun and the moon, but it waxes and wanes in brightness as its distance from Earth changes.The parade of the planets in 2025 is one of the best line-ups weve had for 45 years, said Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy and chairman of National Astronomy Week in the U.K from Feb. 1-9, 2025. Not since April 1980, when Mars was close and we could see Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus, has there been such a fantastic opportunity to see half the solar system in all its glory.Venus will henceforth be seen lower in the sky as it gradually sinks into the suns glare, reaching inferior conjunction (pass between Earth and the sun) on March 22, 2025. Before that, on March 12, 2025, Saturn will reach superior conjunction (pass around the far side of the sun), effectively ending the current planet parade. With the disappearance of Venus and Saturn from the post-sunset night sky in March, only Mars and Jupiter will remain easily visible.Key BackgroundThe phases and relative size of Venus as seen from Earth as it moves around the sun. (Photo by ... [+] SSPL/Getty Images)SSPL via Getty ImagesVenus is moving closer to Earth on its shorter orbit of the sun, which takes 225 Earth days for it to complete. The distance between the two planets will be shortest on the date of inferior conjunction, at 38 million miles (61 million kilometers) about two-fifths of the distance between Earth and the sun though the planet will not be visible from Earth.For a few months on either side of inferior conjunction, Venus is seen first in the evening sky (when it's called the Evening Star) and then in the pre-dawn sky (when its termed the Morning Star). For a few weeks, on either side of the inferior conjunction, its disk both increases in size and shrinks to a slim crescent, similar to how we see the moon close to the new similarly invisible new moon phase. Something similar happens to Mercury, the other inner planet from Earths point of view. On Feb. 16, 2025, Venus will be just 26%-lit and a good pair of binoculars or any telescope will display it as a crescent.planetary Alignment MisinformationAlthough its being reported by many media outlets as a rare planetary alignment, the line-up of the six worlds is nothing of the sort. Planets never align. They are spread out across the night sky, as they always are. Planets are always seen along an imaginary path through the sky called the ecliptic, the path of the sun through the daytime sky and the plane of the solar system. All thats different is that more planets than usual are visible from the night side of Earth.Further Reading