February 28, 2025: Do seven planets align after sundown? Here’s a reality check.
by Jeffrey L. Hunt
Are seven planets visible after sundown? The popular press is rife with stories, most without reliable sources, stating that seven planets are visible after sundown tonight. Do seven planets align?
Tomorrow, look for Venus and Moon after sunset.
Here’s what to see tonight:
Seven Planets Align?
At 30 minutes after sunset, about the time automatic outdoor lights switch on, brilliant Venus gleams through evening twilight in the western sky. Along with the moon, Jupiter, and possibly Mars, the Evening Star is one of a few celestial bodies which shine at this level of sky brightness. Venus recently passed its greatest brightness and can be seen during the daytime on exceptionally clear days.
Beyond the four bodies that were named above, no others are visible 30 minutes after sundown.
Saturn and Neptune, Impossible Views
Neptune and Saturn are in the sky, but the sky is too bright to see them. Neptune’s final appearance in the evening sky for this cycle occurred on February 2nd when the crescent moon was nearby. Afterward, evening moonlight washed across the sky, making Neptune’s sighting impossible for casual sky watchers. Neptune sets as evening twilight ends 90 minutes after sunset, though the planet is too dim and the sky is too bright to see it as the sky darkens.
Saturn was last visible low in evening twilight on February 22nd. At 30 minutes after sundown, it is less than 3° above the horizon. Make a fist with your hand. Orient it so that the thumb is on top, extend your arm with the pinky finger at the horizon. Saturn’s altitude or height above the horizon is at the top of the second curled finger from the horizon. Simply, Saturn is too low in the sky and twilight is too bright. The Ringed Wonder sets less than 20 minutes later.
Wait 15 minutes
At this hour Mercury and the crescent moon are visible through a binocular, but wait about 15 minutes later when the sky is darker. Use the binocular to initially see them. Can you find them without the optical assist?
Do seven planets align after sundown? Clearly, the planets are there, but Saturn and Neptune are not visible because the sky is too bright.
Jupiter with Taurus
Jupiter can be found high in the southern sky at 30 minutes after sundown, but along with Mars in the east-southeast, they are easier to see 15 minutes later.
The Jovian Giant is in front of Taurus, near the brightest star Aldebaran.
Uranus
Uranus is not far away from Jupiter, near the Pleiades star cluster. From suburban areas, the planet is fairly easy to see through a binocular. In the darkest locations, away from outdoor lighting, it is visible without optical aid. Look for it beginning 90 minutes after nightfall.
Mars
Mars is in the east-southeast, near the Gemini Twins.
Reality Check
Seven planets align. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars are the only planets easy to see. Uranus is visible through a binocular at the end of evening twilight. Saturn and Neptune are washed out by bright evening twilight. The reality check.
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