4 Planets Align on April 17, 2025: Southern Planet Parade
Curious if you can see 4 planets aligning on April 17? It’s easy to find out! Use the Time Machine feature in the free Star Walk 2 app to see how the planets will look from your location on the given date. This article provides a complete guide to observing the alignment and explains the science behind this amazing celestial event.
Contents
- 4 planets in the planetary alignment on April 17, 2025
- What is a planetary alignment?
- The upcoming planetary alignments
- FAQ
- Planetary Alignment 2025: Conclusion
Planetary alignment is an astronomical term that means that several planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time.
Planetary parade is a colloquial term that means, in the broadest sense, that several planets are present in the sky in one night.
Now, let's find out when the planets will align next. To learn more about how planetary alignments work, go straight to the "What is a planetary alignment" chapter.
4 planets in the planetary alignment on April 17, 2025
Look for a small planetary alignment around April 17, 2025! In the morning, about an hour before sunrise, four planets — Venus, Saturn, Mercury, and Neptune — will align in the sky in the constellation Pisces.
Three of them (Venus, Saturn, and Mercury) will be easily visible to the naked eye. For Neptune, get a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.
This alignment will be perfectly visible from the Southern Hemisphere! From there, the planets will rise relatively high above the eastern horizon while the sky is still dark.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the sky will still be lit by sunlight, and only Venus, the brightest planet, will be easy to see.
Here are some details about each planet:
Venus (mag -4.7), the most brilliant object in the sky after the Sun and the Moon, will rise higher than other planets.
Golden Saturn (mag 1.2) will rise almost as high as Venus, but will appear significantly dimmer.
A bit closer to the horizon, you’ll find elusive Mercury (mag 0.5). On April 21, the planet will reach its greatest elongation from the Sun, making this the best time to view Mercury.
Neptune (mag 7.9), the dimmest Solar System planet, will be very close to Mercury. You'll need a pair of powerful binoculars to see it. To locate Neptune in the sky, use the free astronomy app Star Walk 2 — just open the search window, type “Neptune” in the search field tap the corresponding result in the search field.
Where & when to see 4 planets in 2025?
The April planetary alignment will be visible on the mornings around April 17, 2025: start looking about an hour before sunrise. Locations in southern latitudes or closer to the equator will have better viewing conditions as the planets rise higher above the horizon.
Note that April 17, 2025 is a median date based on when this event will be well visible for most locations around the world. The perfect date to view the alignment may vary depending on your location.
Here is a list of locations around the world and the dates when the planets are seen in the smallest sector of the sky during this alignment:
- Sydney: April 15, 7-degree sky sector;
- Athens: April 17, 4-degree sky sector;
- Beijing: April 17, 4-degree sky sector;
- Mexico: April 17, 3-degree sky sector;
- New York: April 17, 4-degree sky sector;
- Abu Dhabi: April 18, 4-degree sky sector;
- Bombay: April 18, 3-degree sky sector;
- Hong Kong: April 18, 4-degree sky sector;
- Tokyo: April 18, 4-degree sky sector;
Note that tall buildings or high mountains near you might hide the planets from view.
How to see a planetary alignment in April?
As mentioned above, this alignment will be difficult to see from most locations in the Northern Hemisphere, so you’ll need to find the best viewing time for your location.
The easiest way to find all the planets in the sky is to use the Planet Walk feature in the free Star Walk 2 app — a new tool designed for tracking planets and alignments:
-
Open Star Walk 2 and go to the Planets section from the Menu.
-
Tap "Planet Walk".
- You'll see a sky map with planets highlighted.
- Planet icons (along with the Sun and Moon) appear at the bottom — tap one to find it on the map.
- If a planet is below the horizon, its icon will look faded.
-
Point your device at the sky to match the image on your screen with the real sky.
-
Tap a planet’s icon and follow the white arrow to spot it in the sky.
- For an even more immersive view, tap the camera icon (top right corner) to activate AR mode and see a sky map overlaid on your real surroundings.
With Planet Walk, spotting planets has never been easier!
To see the alignment in all its beauty, find a place with a dark sky without light pollution and with a clear view of the horizon (without obstacles such as trees or tall buildings).
Also, make sure you’re looking at the planets and not the stars. It’s not as obvious as it seems! It may be easy to distinguish Venus because it will be the brightest celestial object after the Moon in the sky. The other planets, however, are a little fainter. One of the differences is that the planets, unlike the stars, don’t twinkle. And if you observe the night sky throughout the year, you’ll notice that the planets "visit" different constellations while the stars stay in "fixed" positions relative to each other. To understand the differences between stars and planets once and for all, check out our colorful infographic.
The short guide above will help you spot the aligned planets. To plan your observations, check the "Best nights" section in the Star Walk 2 app or find the next planetary alignments in "The upcoming planetary alignments" section further in this article.
What is a planetary alignment?
Here are two common definitions of a planetary alignment:
- An astronomical event when planets gather closely on one side of the Sun at the same time, as seen from above the Solar System.
Some people think the Solar System planets can form a straight line as viewed from the Sun. However, the planets cannot achieve full alignment in three dimensions. Even a looser grouping in one quadrant (a 90-degree sector) is extremely rare: all planets gather in one quadrant only 7 times in the current millennium.
- A visual phenomenon when the planets appear close together in a small sky sector, as seen from the Earth.
When the Earth is one of the planets gathered on one side of the Sun, it appears to the observer that several planets are aligned in the sky. The smaller the sector in which the planets are seen, the more spectacular the alignment.
Don’t forget that alignments from the first definition aren’t always as striking as seen from the Earth. Even when all the planets gather within one quadrant in space, they may be scattered across the sky’s dome. Moreover, when the inner planets are close to the Earth-Sun line, we won't see them in the night sky.
Look at our infographic to understand how planetary alignments work. You’ll learn how to spot them and what to expect from the upcoming "planet parade."
Do the planets form a line in the sky during the planetary alignment?
The planets do form a line, but it's not perfectly straight. All the planets orbit the Sun in almost the same plane. As a result, when viewing from Earth, the other planets appear to move along the ecliptic, the Sun’s yearly path across the sky.
You can see it yourself with the stargazing app Star Walk 2:
-
Open the app and go to the "Planets" section in the Menu.
-
Play the animation in the section. Do you see the yellow dotted line forming an arc? This is the ecliptic. The planets are grouped near this line.
-
Tap the Planet Walk button to see the planets on the sky map.
- In the animation, the ecliptic appears as an arc because it shows a wide view of the sky, from east to west.
- On the sky map, where only a smaller section of the sky is visible, the ecliptic appears as a straight line.
This is why, during a planetary alignment, the planets seem to form an almost straight line in the sky.
Is a planet alignment and a planet parade the same thing?
"Planetary parade" is not an official astronomical term, so it is used more loosely than the term "planetary alignment." Planetary alignments are colloquially called planetary parades. Additionally, when multiple planets are visible together in one night, it can also be called a planetary parade. In astrology, a planetary parade occurs when several planets are located in the same zodiac constellation.
Types of planetary alignments
The following types of planetary alignments are distinguished according to the number of participating planets:
- Mini planetary alignment – 3 planets.
- Small planetary alignment – 4 planets.
- Large planetary alignment – 5 or 6 planets.
- Great (full) planetary alignment – all Solar System planets (+ Pluto sometimes).
When two planets are close in the sky, what is it called?
When two planets meet in the sky, it's not a planetary alignment yet. It may be the closest approach or conjunction. In our dedicated article, you’ll find details about the upcoming planetary conjunctions.
The upcoming planetary alignments
Plan your planetary observations for the next few years and beyond! And don’t miss the next planetary alignment – described in detail at the beginning of the article and regularly updated.
Not all parts of the world have the same view of planetary alignments. Due to the position of the ecliptic on the celestial sphere, certain planets may not be visible from where you live. Therefore, please keep in mind that the following list of planetary alignments is a general overview. The listed dates indicate when the planets can be clearly seen from most locations worldwide. If you miss this precise date, don't worry — the alignment is typically visible for a few days before and after the given date.
Here are the upcoming planetary alignments that will occur in 2025-2026:
- April 17: a small morning alignment of Neptune, Mercury, Saturn, and Venus.
- August 10: a large morning alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn.
- February 28, 2026: a large evening alignment of Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter.
- April 18, 2026: a small morning alignment of Saturn, Mars, Mercury, and Neptune.
- May 12, 2026: a mini evening alignment of Mercury, Jupiter, and Venus.
- August 12, 2026: a large morning alignment of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune.
- November 14, 2026: a small morning alignment of Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter.
To check if a specific planetary alignment is entirely visible from your location, use the Star Walk 2 app. Open the "Planets" section in the Menu and tap "☆ Best nights to see planets". You’ll find a list of date ranges when several planets align in your sky. The date in the middle marks when planets align in the smallest sector of the sky in your location. Tap any alignment to jump to that date.
You'll see key details like planets’ rise and set times, brightness, and night duration (when the Sun is below the horizon).
Use the animated scheme to watch how the planets move across the sky on that date and pick the best time for viewing.
When will 5 to 7 planets align in the sky?
Here is the list of the next planetary alignments that feature 5 to 7 planets:
- August 10, 2025: a large morning alignment of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn.
- February 28, 2026: a large evening alignment of Mercury, Venus, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus, and Jupiter.
- August 12, 2026: a large morning alignment of Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune.
The most anticipated planetary alignments
Here are some planetary alignments discussed in the media. They are noteworthy because they feature many planets that are grouped closely together. However, most of them won’t happen anytime soon, so don't hold your breath.
On September 8, 2040, five naked-eye planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) will align in the sky. The crescent Moon will also be visible, positioned between Venus and Saturn. The best time for observations will be around 19:30 local time.
On March 15, 2080, six planets – Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Uranus – will be visible in the morning sky. This alignment is especially remarkable because it will feature the "great conjunction" of Saturn and Jupiter, which will be only six arcminutes apart.
On May 19, 2161, all Solar System planets, including the Earth, will gather on one side of the Sun. The planetary alignment will be seen just before dawn.
On November 7, 2176, all Solar System planets, including the Earth, will gather on one side of the Sun. The planetary alignment will be seen in the Earth’s sky just after sunset.
On May 6, 2492, all Solar System planets, including the Earth, will gather on one side of the Sun. In the Earth’s sky, the planetary alignment will be seen just after sunset.
FAQ
When is the next planet parade?
The next planet parade is around April 17, 2025, when four planets – Venus, Saturn, Mercury, and Neptune – will align in the sky. Learn about planetary alignments and how to observe them with our colorful infographic.
What is it called when all the planets align?
When all Solar System planets align, it’s called a "great" or "full" planetary alignment. However, the planets can’t be in a straight line in space, so during the alignment, they just gather closely on one side of the Sun.
How to see the next alignment of planets?
Planetary alignments are quite easy to observe, with just a few essential tips to keep in mind:
- The alignments featuring Mercury can be viewed just after sunset or before dawn, depending on the date.
- Use a pair of binoculars when trying to spot Uranus and Neptune.
- For the inner planets, the best viewing conditions occur near their greatest elongations, and for the outer planets – around their oppositions.
Use the app Star Walk 2 to find all the planets in the sky above you and learn their visibility conditions.
When will all the planets align?
The planets of our Solar System never form a perfectly straight line in space, because their orbits aren't on the same plane. But sometimes, the planets gather closely on one side of the Sun and appear together in the sky. At the next great (full) planetary alignment on February 3, 2034, the seven planets — Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn — will be observable in the sky simultaneously.
What happens when the planets align?
Some media sources falsely claim that planetary alignments cause tsunamis, earthquakes, and other global disasters. This nonsense has been repeatedly debunked. In reality, alignments do not affect gravity or human life, but they are cool stargazing events.
Planetary Alignment 2025: Conclusion
Planetary alignment is a term used in astronomy to describe the event when several planets gather in a small sky area. This event may also be colloquially called a "planetary parade." A planetary alignment of four planets (the "small" alignment) will take place around April 17, 2025. It will be best visible in the Southern Hemisphere, where the planets will be visible high in the sky about an hour before sunrise. Download a free stargazing app Star Walk 2 to help you spot them all!
Still got questions? Check out our reel explaining how planetary alignments work. Follow us on social media for more exciting videos!
