Rare parade of five planets occurs brilliantly this month

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A rare planetary parade can be seen in the night sky this month while there will also be a special alignment of Mercury and Saturn. If you can find an unobstructed view Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury and Saturn will be stretching across the sky. Mercury and Saturn will be especially close together on Monday, 24 February. This will be the highlight of the month-long planetary parade. A similar alignment of the five planets will not occur again until October 2028.

The most prominent of the five planets is Venus. It shines brilliantly in the west-southwest sky at dusk throughout the month. As the month progresses Venus will appear larger as it moves closer to earth while its crescent thins as the planet aligns more closely with the Earth-Sun line of sight.