Stunning ‘Planet Parade’ Photo Reveals Seven Planets Align Above Earth – A Historic Celestial Event!

A breathtaking photo has caught all seven neighboring planets in the sky together, likely for the first time ever. This amazing shot was taken by astrophotographer Josh Dury. It shows Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Venus, Neptune, and Mercury aligned during a rare event called a “planetary parade,” which hasn’t happened since 1982.

While spacecraft like NASA’s Voyager 1 have previously captured all the planets from space, ground cameras have only recently gained the technology to take similar images. Dury’s photo could be the first of its kind showing all the planets visible in the same frame.

Dury shared, “If we include Earth, visible in the foreground, we have eight planets in total. This image could set a record as the first to photograph all the planets of the solar system together.” He took the picture just after sunset on February 22 from The Mendip Hills, a beautiful range of limestone hills in Somerset, U.K.

To create this stunning image, Dury used multiple exposures to capture different parts of the sky. He relied on astronomy software to find the locations of Saturn, Neptune, and Mercury, which are dimmer and closer to the western horizon. By using a high dynamic range (HDR) camera setting, he was able to capture the faint light of these planets.

“I knew I couldn’t photograph them right at sunset due to glare from the sun,” Dury explained. “So, this image shows the first chance to glimpse them as sunlight faded.” His planning and use of models helped him identify the planets later.

Planetary conjunctions occur when two or more planets appear close together from our viewpoint on Earth. In reality, they are still millions of miles apart. Such alignments aren’t common, but adding more planets makes them rarer. For example, the three innermost planets—Mercury, Venus, and Earth—align every 39.6 years, while all eight planets aligning closely would take a staggering 396 billion years. This means that while we can see several planets together now, a perfect alignment is unlikely to happen before the sun eventually consumes the inner planets as it transforms into a red giant.

However, it’s less unusual to see all seven planets appearing on the same side of the sun, as seen in Dury’s image. Another chance to witness a similar seven-planet parade will occur in 2040.

If you’re eager to catch a glimpse of a planetary alignment, tonight is a great opportunity. You can use online tools like Time and Date or Stellarium to find the best viewing times based on your location.