On the morning of August 8, 2024, a conditional parade of planets can be observed in the morning sky. On this day, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, and the waning Moon will line up on one side of the Sun in a sector of the sky spanning about 160 degrees, according to the Moscow Planetarium.
This parade of planets can be seen in the eastern sky before sunrise. In clear weather, some planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, will be visible to the naked eye, while a telescope or powerful binoculars will be needed to observe more distant planets such as Uranus and Neptune.
Although this parade is conditional due to the significant angular distance between the objects, it is still of interest to astronomy enthusiasts. There is no strict definition of a parade of planets, and the term is more often used to popularize science than to describe a scientific phenomenon. Parades of planets, when several celestial bodies are at a close angular distance from each other, are not observed so often, especially when it comes to more than five objects simultaneously.
Small parades of planets occur approximately every 20 years. Large parades of planets, when five or more planets gather in a narrow sector of the sky, occur much less frequently than small ones.
Read more on the topic:
Once Every Twenty Years: An Unusual "Parade of Planets" Will Take Place in Early June
Moscow Planetarium: Rare Conjunction of Mars and Jupiter Will Occur on August 14
Muscovites Will Be Able to See ISS Flyovers Over the City — How and Where to Do It
