In this hectic modern world, it's natural to feel like your ducks aren't in a row, but every so often the planets seem to align. This week, Mercury is joining Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune for a seven-planet parade (although not all of them will be visible to the naked eye). Here's what that all means and how best to see it.
According to NASA, the term planetary parade isn't really a technical term in astronomy, but it's cute and paints a fun picture. Additionally, planetary alignment has a few different meanings; it can refer to when the planets line up with each other or when they line up with the moon or stars. For our purposes, we are referring to the latter.
The eight planets in our solar system all orbit the sun on "a relatively flat, disc-shaped plane." Almost a metaphor for life, each planet moves at its own speed along the orbit. Because of this, it is inevitable that they occasionally line up from time to time.
It all depends on your perspective. According to NASA, this is not a rare occurrence, but it does not happen every year. For Dr. Gerard van Belle, director of science at Lowell Observatory, this is just another day at the office. "On the scale of supermoon to death asteroid, this is more a supermoon sort of thing," Dr. van Belle explained to the New York Times.