4 planets line up like ducks in a row in gorgeous night-sky image

There was a parade of planets across the sky last week. The astronomer from Italy captured the show from his balcony in Rome.

There are four planets lined up behind the moon in advance of an unusual alignment of the five visible planets in the solar system this summer. In the early morning hours of the Northern Hemisphere, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Saturn were all visible.

I could enjoy the planetary parade involving Jupiter, Venus, Mars, and the moon this morning. Masi told Live Science in an email that it was an amazing sight, all the planets were easy to see.

Mercury will join the planetary parade in mid-June, and the night-sky photo is a sign of things to come.

When the planets align

When viewed from Earth, planetary alignments occur when the planets are in the same region of the sky. The last time five planets aligned in the night sky was in 2020, preceded by alignments in 2016 and 2005.

It takes time to develop these alignments. The planets Venus, Mars, and Saturn have been night-sky neighbors. On April 4 and 5, Mars and Saturn were so close together that they appeared less than the width of the full moon in the southeast early morning sky.

There are magnificent views of the dark sky in America.

In April, Jupiter turned the trio into a quartet. The last quarter phase of the moon was on April 23. Mars looks like an orange dot to the left of Saturn, while Venus is a brighter light to the right of Mars. Jupiter is the lowest in the sky.

The way to tell the planets from the stars in the sky is by the light, according to the director of public observing at Chicago's Adler Planetarium.

Nichols told Live Science that stars twinkle.

Watching the planetary alignment

The planets will be in their line until July. The final five-planet alignment will take place when Mercury appears in the line as early as June 10 in places with a flat, eastern horizon. The planets will move from the east to the south. The best viewing conditions for the alignment will be in June.

During the alignment, Neptune and Uranus will be in the northern hemisphere. The planets Mercury and Mars will be visible in areas without a lot of light pollution. It might be possible to see it with the naked eye in a dark sky, but binoculars will help in observing it. Neptune will need a telescope to view.

It is a great time to see the planets.

It was originally published on Live Science.

The article was first published on April 20, 2022, and updated on April 26.