Topline<\/p>\n
The \u201cplanet parade\u201d happening all week will enter its most photogenic phase on Tuesday, Aug. 19, as Mercury becomes more prominent and the moon wanes to a slim crescent. All this week, four planets are visible to the naked eye an hour before sunrise. Uranus and Neptune will also be in the sky, though both require a telescope to see easily. Tuesday\u2019s view is one of the best of the week, though on Wednesday, Aug. 20, the crescent moon will be close to bright Venus. <\/p>\n
From Aug. 17\u201321, a spectacular \u201cplanet parade\u201d (also called an alignment) features the moon and six planets.<\/p>\n
gettyKey Facts<\/p>\n
A 16%-lit waning crescent moon will shine just above Venus (brightest) and Jupiter in the eastern sky about an hour before sunrise. Below will be Mercury, which will be easiest to see closer to sunrise. Saturn will be visible in the southern sky.<\/p>\n
Mercury reaches its \u201cgreatest elongation west\u201d \u2014 its farthest point from the sun in the morning sky \u2014 on Tuesday, Aug. 19.<\/p>\n
A \u201cplanet parade\u201d is an optical illusion, with the planets not particularly close to each other or Earth. Mercury will be about 80 million miles (128 million kilometers) from Earth, with Venus 118 million miles (190 million kilometers), Jupiter 548 million miles (882 million kilometers) and Saturn 888 million miles (1,430 million kilometers). <\/p>\n
The arc formed by the moon and planets is a curve across the night sky known as the ecliptic, the plane of the solar system. All planets orbit the sun close to the ecliptic, which is why it\u2019s incorrect to use the term \u201cplanetary alignment\u201d to describe this event.<\/p>\n
Although four planets are visible to the naked eye during this \u201cplanet parade,\u201d Uranus and Neptune are also in the sky. However, both require telescopes to see. <\/p>\n
Tuesday, August 19: \u2018Planet Parade,\u2019 Crescent Moon And Mercury<\/p>\n
StellariumHow To See \u2018earthshine\u2019 On The Moon<\/p>\n
When a crescent moon is about 16%-lit and less\u2014 as it will be on Tuesday, Aug. 19 and for the following mornings \u2014 it will begin to display easily visible \u201cEarthshine.\u201d A faint glow that appears on the dark part of the moon, Earthshine is sunlight reflecting off Earth\u2019s ice caps, oceans and clouds. It looks spectacular through any pair of binoculars. The light you see takes just 1.3 seconds to bounce from Earth to the moon and back into your eyes. Leonardo da Vinci was the first to describe Earthshine over 500 years ago, hence its occasional name of \u201cDa Vinci glow.\u201d Moon-gazers often describe Earthshine as \u201cthe old moon in the new moon\u2019s arms.\u201d <\/p>\n
A 9 percent waxing crescent moon lit with Earthshine sets behind a church on December 25, 2022, in Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Getty ImagesWhat\u2019s Next In The \u2018planet Parade\u2019<\/p>\n
Arguably, the highlight of the \u201cplanet parade\u201d this week will come on Wednesday, Aug. 20, when a 9%-lit crescent moon will appear very close to Venus, with Mercury below and Jupiter above. The last chance to see the \u201cplanet parade\u201d comes on Thursday, Aug. 21, when a slender 4%waning crescent moon will be beneath Jupiter and Venus, near Mercury and the Beehive Cluster of stars just above the horizon. The next impressive \u201cplanet parade\u201d will take place in October 2028, when five planets will be visible together before sunrise. <\/p>\n
What\u2019s Next In The Night Sky<\/p>\n
Mercury will gradually disappear from the pre-dawn sky as it continues its speedy journey around the sun, leaving Saturn, Jupiter and Venus as the only planets visible to the naked eye. Skywatching highlights in September include Saturn at its biggest, brightest and best as it reaches its annual \u201copposition” on Sept. 21, a total lunar eclipse on Sept. 7 for those in Asia, Africa and western Australia, a stunning view of a waning crescent moon, Venus and bright star Regulus on Sept. 19, and a partial solar eclipse on Sept. 21 for the Pacific Ocean.<\/p>\n
Further ReadingForbes\u2018Planet Parade\u2019 Myths Debunked And How To Truly See It \u2014 By A StargazerBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesYour Ultimate Guide To Meteor Showers And The Perseids \u2014 By An ExpertBy Jamie Carter<\/a>ForbesNASA Urges Public To Leave The City As Milky Way Appears \u2014 15 Places To GoBy Jamie Carter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline The \u201cplanet parade\u201d happening all week will enter its most photogenic phase on Tuesday, Aug. 19, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":354897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3863,17172,55909,120081,120079,120078,122709,120080,120077,70,16,15,20630],"class_list":{"0":"post-354896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-full-moon","9":"tag-jupiter","10":"tag-mercury","11":"tag-moon-and-planets","12":"tag-planet-alignment","13":"tag-planet-parade-2025","14":"tag-planets-alignment-when","15":"tag-planets-august-2025","16":"tag-planets-tonight","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-uk","19":"tag-united-kingdom","20":"tag-venus"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115051423605293434","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=354896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/354896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/354897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=354896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=354896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=354896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}