Topline<\/p>\n
An imminent \u201cblood moon\u201d total lunar eclipse<\/a> and a rare display of the Northern Lights in the U.S.<\/a> might be grabbing the astronomical headlines this weekend, but skywatchers shouldn\u2019t overlook the \u201cplanet parade<\/a>\u201d going on in the pre-dawn sky. <\/p>\n A “planetary parade” is visible \u2014 though only five will be seen this weekend. (This image elements furnished by NASA\/Software: Adobe Photoshop CC 2023. Knoll light factory. Adobe After Effects CC 2021.)<\/p>\n gettyKey Facts<\/p>\n This \u201cplanet parade<\/a>\u201d will be visible two hours before sunrise for the next several weeks. It\u2019s the last \u201cplanet parade\u201d until October 2028, when five planets will be visible together before sunrise.<\/p>\n The current \u201cplanet parade\u201d comprises five planets \u2014 Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mercury joined the fray in August, but has since disappeared into the sun\u2019s glare. Only Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are visible to the naked eye. <\/p>\n Venus and Jupiter will be the easiest to find. About two hours before sunrise, Venus will be visible in the east and Jupiter in the southeast, with Saturn in the southwest. <\/p>\n Close to Jupiter will be Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. Also visible alongside the \u201cplanet parade\u201d will be the constellation Orion, most easily identified via its three belt stars (Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka), which point down to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky and just 8.6 light-years from the sun.<\/p>\n The “planet parade 90 minutes before sunrise on Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025. <\/p>\n StellariumSeeing Neptune And Uranus<\/p>\n Although there are five planets in the sky during this \u201cplanet parade,\u201d not all are visible to the naked eye. Eighth Neptune (in the constellation Pisces, close to Saturn in Aquarius) and seventh planet Uranus (not close to any other planets, in the constellation Taurus) are right on the cusp of human eyesight and are almost impossible to see unless under exceptional sky conditions. However, Neptune comes to its annual opposition on Sept. 23, 2025, as Earth passes between it and the sun. That will make it the closest and brightest for the year, when it will be easiest to see using binoculars or a telescope. Uranus reaches its opposition on Nov. 21, 2025.<\/p>\n The Night Sky This Weekend<\/p>\n There\u2019s an alert out from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for a rare display of the Northern Lights<\/a> in 15 U.S. states after dark on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. It could extend into the weekend. However, the highlight will be the rising of the full corn moon on Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025. The best time to watch it rise in North America will be at the time of local moonrise<\/a> at dusk. A \u201cblood moon\u201d total lunar eclipse<\/a> will have just been visible for 86 minutes on the other side of the world, similar to one seen in North America last March<\/a>. By the time the moon rises in North America, it will appear as an ordinary full moon. On Sept. 22, 2025, a partial solar eclipse will be seen from Antarctica, New Zealand and the western South Pacific. <\/p>\n Further ReadingForbesUpgraded Northern Lights Forecast: 15 States May See Aurora On FridayBy Jamie Carter<\/a>Forbes\u2018Blood Moon\u2019 Eclipse September 2025: When To See The \u2018Corn Moon\u2019 RiseBy Jamie Carter<\/a>Forbes\u2018Planet Parade\u2019 On Friday: Five Worlds Set To Dominate Through OctoberBy Jamie Carter<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Topline An imminent \u201cblood moon\u201d total lunar eclipse and a rare display of the Northern Lights in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3031,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[61,60,3626,2704,3628,3624,3623,3631,3627,82,3630,247,3629,3625],"class_list":{"0":"post-3030","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-jupiter","11":"tag-mars","12":"tag-neptune","13":"tag-planet-alignment","14":"tag-planet-parade","15":"tag-planets","16":"tag-saturn","17":"tag-science","18":"tag-solar-system","19":"tag-space","20":"tag-uranus","21":"tag-venus"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}