Alignments of five or more planets are rare—there will be two more featuring five or more planets this year, but after that the next won’t happen until 2040.

Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn can be spotted without special equipment, with Uranus and Neptune requiring a telescope.

On Friday 17 January and Saturday 18 January, six planets will line up in the night sky, in an event that some astronomers refer to as a planetary parade. Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus will appear together in a row, although Neptune and Uranus will only be visible with binoculars or a telescope.

Venus and Saturn will glow in the southwestern sky, with Jupiter in the southern sky and Mars in the southeast or east. The planets will shine brighter than the stars, and Mars will look like a reddish-orange dot. Consider downloading stargazing apps to help with where to look, Sparkes said.

Skygazers and astronomy enthusiasts can look forward to catching a rare "planet parade" in the night sky through January. According to NASA scientist Preston Dyches, the planets "will appear more or less along a line across" during a planetary alignment.

A rare parade of planets will light up the night sky throughout January. Six planets will be in alignment for the rest of the month – four of which will be visible with the naked eye, Preston Dyches,