Dan Pye, director of astronomy and science communication at the observatory, said: "The six planets – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – will be best viewed from January 25, but during just one night in February, Mercury will join the parade, meaning we’ll have a rare seven-planet alignment.

Stargazers are in for a rare planetary treat between now until the end of February. If you look up into the night sky tonight (under the right conditions, of course), six planets—Jupiter, Mars, Neptune,

Have you heard of the “planetary parade” that’s happening in the night skies? For much of January and February, you have the chance to see six planets in our solar system after dark, although two — Uranus and Neptune — will be hard to see without a telescope or high-powered binoculars.

Because planets always appear in a line, the alignment isn't anything out of the norm. What's less common is seeing so many bright planets at once.