Don’t Miss This Stunning Free Live Stream: 7 Planets Align in a Rare Celestial Parade Today!

Tonight’s a special night! Seven planets will line up in the sky for a stunning “planetary parade.” You can catch all the action live online.

The planets involved are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, along with the Moon. They will all be visible shortly after dusk tonight, February 28. Most of the planets are easy to see, but if you want the full view, you might need a telescope. Don’t worry if you don’t have one; you can tune in to a fantastic live stream hosted by the Virtual Telescope Project in Italy.

The show starts at 12:00 p.m. ET (or 5:00 p.m. GMT). Astrophysicist Gianluca Masi will showcase beautiful live views of the planets in their lineup. You can watch the stream either on Space.com or go directly to the Virtual Telescope’s WebTV page or their YouTube channel.

“Such a parade happens from time to time, and we want to share this event with the world,” Masi said in a statement.

These planets have been making appearances in the night sky since January, but Mercury is the latest to join the lineup, now shining bright in the horizon. The spectacle will last for a few days before Mercury and Saturn dip below the horizon, making them harder to spot.

Planetary alignments like this occur because the planets orbit the sun in a flat, disk-like manner. While it’s fairly common to see several planets at once, having all seven line up is quite rare. The next chance to see this won’t come again until 2040.

To best view the parade, find a location away from bright lights on a clear night. Most planets will be bright enough to see with the naked eye, but for a closer look at Uranus and Neptune, a telescope or binoculars will be useful, as they are dimmer and farther from Earth.

With telescopes situated in the beautiful region of southwestern Tuscany, the Virtual Telescope Project promises excellent viewing conditions. Make sure to catch the live feed right after sunset to enjoy the sight of all seven planets in alignment.