Keen observers of the night sky may have noticed the captivating alignment of planets visible in January. This week, Mercury will join the celestial display, allowing viewers to see all the planets in our solar system shining together—provided you know where to direct your gaze.

Gerard van Belle, the science director at Lowell Observatory in Arizona, clarifies that the alignment of seven planets is not a miraculous occurrence nor particularly unusual.

“In terms of events, it falls closer to a supermoon than to something like a doomsday asteroid,” Dr. van Belle remarked. Nonetheless, the so-called planetary parade offers a delightful reason to step outside at night, perhaps with a glass of wine, to relish the beauty of the cosmos.

What Causes the Planetary Alignment?

When planets are visible in the night sky, they tend to line up along a similar trajectory, known as the ecliptic—this is the same path the sun follows throughout the day.

This alignment occurs because all planets revolve around the sun in a shared orbital plane. Dr. van Belle compared this arrangement to a vinyl record, with the sun positioned at the center and the planetary orbits resembling the grooves encircling it.