See 6 Planets Align in the Night Sky This August

On August 10, six planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune—will line up in an arc in the night sky. Four of these planets—Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn—can be seen with the naked eye, while Uranus and Neptune will be visible through a very strong pair of skywatching binoculars or a backyard telescope.

While August 10 marks the beginning of this planetary parade, these six planets will be visible until the final days of August, when Mercury sinks lower on the horizon and meanders too close to the sun to be observed safely. The next time that all of these planets will be visible together won’t be until February 2026, so you won’t want to miss this alignment.

While this planetary parade starts on the 10th, the best date to view these planets is on the nights leading up to August 23, when there will be little to no moonlight and when Mercury will be at its furthest point from the sun.

Moonlight and artificial light can wash out objects in the night sky, so you’ll want to do your skywatching under a clear, moonless sky and away from artificial light. If you must use a flashlight, opt for one with red light to preserve your night vision.

Rising first are Neptune and Saturn, followed by Uranus, then Venus and Jupiter, and finally Mercury.

Once these planets are above the horizon on August 10, if you’re in the northern hemisphere, you will see Neptune and Saturn to the southwest (about 40 degrees above the horizon), followed by Uranus to the southeast (about 55 degrees above the horizon). Completing the arc in the east are Venus and Jupiter (both just over 20 degrees above the horizon) and lastly Mercury, which will just barely eke over the eastern horizon.

If you’re in the southern hemisphere, instead of looking south, you would look north to see these objects: Neptune and Saturn would be in the northwest, followed by Uranus in the north and slightly to the east. Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury would be slightly more to the northeast in the southern hemisphere, and they would be a few degrees lower on the horizon than in the northern hemisphere.

Here’s what you need to know about each of these planets and how to find them.

First, Neptune and Saturn rise together between about 8:30 pm and 10 pm local time in many locations in both hemispheres. The exact times that the planets rise and set will vary depending on your exact location; you can use websites like Time and Date to find exact times.

Neptune and Saturn will remain together until they set in midmorning. They will appear slightly to the west of the moon, under the constellation Pisces.

Saturn is very bright and easily visible to the naked eye. You can spot Saturn’s marvellous rings with a pair of skywatching binoculars or a backyard telescope. Seeing Saturn’s rings for the first time is one of the most awe-inspiring moments you can have when stargazing.

You can also spot Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, through a powerful pair of binoculars or a backyard telescope. Titan’s name refers to its mammoth size: It’s the second largest moon in our solar system and is actually larger than the planet Mercury.

Neptune, however, is more difficult to spot. You’ll need a powerful backyard telescope to see it, or perhaps a very powerful pair of skywatching binoculars. Because the moon will initially be so bright and so near to Neptune, conditions won’t be ideal to see this planet on the 10th.

The most ideal time to view Neptune will be the week centering on the New Moon on August 23, when there will be minimal to no moonlight to wash out the planets. On this night, the planets will rise a few minutes earlier than they will on August 10, and Saturn and Neptune will still appear to be just a couple of degrees apart, with Neptune being slightly above Saturn.

Uranus rises between about 11:45 pm and 12:45 am local time in most locations in the northern hemisphere and upper part of the southern hemisphere. In very southern latitudes, you may not see Uranus until 1:30 to 2:30 am.

You will need a powerful pair of binoculars or a powerful backyard telescope to see Uranus. Through a telescope, it looks like a star or a faint pale blue disc. Although Uranus has vertical rings, they are too faint to see through amateur stargazing equipment.

Because the moon will be so bright on August 10, plan to observe this planet on August 23 when there will be little to no moonlight.

Uranus will be positioned just under the star cluster Pleiades. If you’re not able to catch Uranus with your binoculars or telescope, the Pleiades are well worth observing: This stunning star cluster contains seven very bright, well-known stars along with thousands of other dimmer or indistinguishable stars all grouped together.

Jupiter and Venus will rise between 2:30 am and 3:30 am local time in the northern hemisphere. In the southern hemisphere, you’ll have to wait until about 4:00 to 5:30 am to see these two planets. Again, you can check Time and Date to see the times in your city.

They will be slightly less than 1 degree apart, since they are almost at conjunction, sharing the same right ascension (the celestial version of longitude), meaning they’re basically in the same position on an east-west axis. They will actually reach conjunction on the following night, August 11–12. Jupiter and Venus will be in the constellation Gemini.

These two planets will be very easy to spot since they are the two brightest. You can easily see them with the naked eye; however, you won’t want to miss viewing them with a backyard telescope or pair of skywatching binoculars.

Jupiter’s awe-inspiring cloud bands—including its famed Red Spot, a massive storm—are visible through binoculars or a telescope. However, because Jupiter rotates on its axis every 10 hours, observing its Red Spot can be tricky.

The Red Spot is easiest to see when it crosses Jupiter’s meridian, the imaginary line that connects the planet’s north and south poles when viewing it. You can use this tool from Sky & Telescope to find the times when the Red Spot crosses or “transits” the meridian from your vantage point.

With the aid of skywatching equipment, you’ll also be able to see Jupiter’s four most prominent moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—which were discovered by Galileo in 1610.

Skywatching equipment also reveals awe-inspiring details on Venus: Like the Moon, Venus has phases—full, gibbous, quarter, crescent, and new. However, unlike the moon’s phases, Venus’s phases aren’t visible to the naked eye. Because Venus appears to be so small, you need a pair of binoculars or a telescope to view them. Look out for a crescent Venus in the night sky.

Mercury rises last, between 4:30 and 5:30 am local time in most locations in the northern hemisphere and parts of the southern hemisphere. However, Mercury will rise around 6:30 am in more southern latitudes. It will be low on the horizon, so you’ll want to observe this planet from a very flat area without trees or other obstructions in the east.

Although Mercury will join this planetary parade on the 10th, the best window to see it is August 18 through 23, when there will be the most time between Mercury’s rise and sunrise. During this window, there will be about an hour and a half between the time that Mercury rises and the sun comes up. This is down to Mercury reaching its greatest western elongation—its furthest point to the west of the sun—on August 19.

Because you have such a narrow window of time to observe Mercury, you’ll want to check Time and Date or the skywatching app Stellarium to see the most accurate times for sunrise and Mercury’s rise in your location. Plan on observing Mercury just as it ekes over the horizon before sunrise when you have the most darkness possible.

A word of caution, however: Don’t use binoculars or a telescope to view Mercury, as it’s too close to the sun—you don’t want to risk accidentally pointing your equipment into the sun and damaging your eyes. Never stare at the sun with the naked eye, either. Use your best judgement about when to stop skywatching before the sky gets too bright.

While Mercury will leave this planetary parade in the final days of August, when it sinks lower and lower on the horizon toward the sun, the other planets will still remain visible in the night sky, so you will have many nights of enjoyable skywatching ahead.