Where, How, And When To See April 2026's 'Planet Parade'

Starting 18 April, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury will appear to “line up” from the perspective of viewers on Earth and will be visible to the naked eye in especially clear-skied areas. 

And a fourth, Neptune, will also be a part of the so-called “planet parade”, though you’ll need a telescope to see that. 

Here’s why it happens, as well as where, when, and how to catch the event: 

What is a “planet parade”?

All planets in our solar system orbit the sun. But they take different amounts of time to complete their journey. 

While Earth takes around 365 days to completely spin around the sun, for Neptune, that’s closer to 165 years.

 If we all moved at the same pace, we’d always remain the same distance from one another, but these variants make planets a ...