Topline<\/p>\n
If you\u2019ve noticed the bright \u201cstar\u201d<\/a> shining low in the west after dark, but not seen the \u201cplanet parade,\u201d act now because Venus, Jupiter<\/a> and Mercury will not be visible together for long. The display, often called a planet parade, will be visible low above the west-northwestern horizon from about an hour after the time of sunset where you are<\/a>. Venus will be the easiest to find, shining as the brightest star-like object in the twilight. A dimmer Jupiter will appear nearby, while tiny Mercury will sit lower toward the horizon and may be harder to spot.<\/p>\n The planets Jupiter (L), Venus (C) and Mercury (R) are seen in an unusual conjunction setting over the Wupatki pueblo ruin on May 24, 2013 at Wupatki National Monument north of Flagstaff, Arizona. Credit: Stan Honda\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n AFP via Getty ImagesKey Facts<\/p>\n Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will appear low in the west-northwestern sky about 45 minutes after sunset, but the viewing window will only be about 90 minutes.<\/p>\n Venus will be the easiest planet to find, with Jupiter nearby and Mercury lower toward the horizon. Mercury will only be visible until around Monday, June 15.<\/p>\n Mars and Saturn will not be part of the evening parade, but both can be seen about an hour before dawn.<\/p>\n The northern lights<\/a> may also be visible from northern U.S. states and Canada overnight on both Friday and Saturday if a coronal mass ejection triggers geomagnetic storming, with Friday favored.<\/p>\n Mercury, Venus and Jupiter will gather low in the evening sky from June-11 through June 16, 2026, giving skywatchers a brief chance to see three planets together shortly after sunset. This image was supplied by NASA.<\/p>\n NASA\/JPL-CaltechHow, When And Where To See The Planet Parade<\/p>\n Skywatchers should begin looking west about 45 minutes after local sunset, when Venus will be the first planet to appear in the bright twilight sky. From there, look lower and slightly to the right to spot Jupiter, and even lower to find Mercury near the horizon. The planets will appear gathered along a slanted line.<\/p>\n Planet Parade: Why Mercury Is The World To Watch<\/p>\n Venus and Jupiter are already familiar sights for many evening skywatchers, but the appearance of Mercury makes this alignment more interesting. The innermost planet is often difficult to see from Earth because it never appears far from the sun in our sky. That means it is usually visible only briefly after sunset or before sunrise, when it sits low in twilight and can easily be hidden. However, Mercury may still require binoculars to see.<\/p>\n Three-Planet Parade Explained<\/p>\n Last week saw a very close conjunction<\/a> between Venus and Jupiter, during which the two planets got to within 1.6 degrees of each other just after sunset. A rising Venus and a sinking Jupiter are joined this weekend by a rising Mercury. This happens because the planets orbit the sun along nearly the same path in our sky, called the ecliptic, according to NASA<\/a>. The ecliptic is the plane of the solar system and also the path of the sun through the daytime sky. That\u2019s why, from our point of view on Earth, they sometimes appear to gather in the same part of the sky.<\/p>\n Northern Lights May Be Visible After Planet Parade<\/p>\n Aside from the planet parade there may be another sky show to watch after dark. Space weather forecasters are monitoring a coronal mass ejection that left the sun on Thursday, June 11, and could glance Earth in the early hours of Saturday, June 13, and possibly later that evening, too. If it arrives as expected, it could trigger a geomagnetic storm and push the northern lights farther south than usual, making it possible to photograph the northern lights with a phone<\/a>. A minor G1 storm would favor Canada and the far northern U.S., including northern parts of Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine. However, aurora forecasts can change quickly because the timing and strength of a coronal mass ejection are difficult to predict.<\/p>\n Further readingForbes\u2018Strong\u2019 Northern Lights Alert Tonight: 25 States May See AuroraBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesAmerica\u2019s 10 Best Stargazing Towns Revealed \u2014 With Utah In Top Spot, Per Outforia ResearchBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesSpaceX IPO: Why Starship Could End Overnight Business TravelBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesInside SpaceX\u2019s Orbital Economy: AI Data Centers And Wireless PowerBy Jamie Carter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline If you\u2019ve noticed the bright \u201cstar\u201d shining low in the west after dark, but not seen the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531848,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[270],"tags":[582,18,19,17,2663,2660,10626,15543,167183,25863,185221,133,451,16906,2664],"class_list":["post-531847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-astronomy","tag-eire","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jupiter","tag-mercury","tag-moon","tag-night-sky","tag-planet-parade-2026","tag-planetary-alignment","tag-planetary-parade","tag-science","tag-space","tag-stargazing","tag-venus"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116737994180407432","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531847\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}