All five of the planets that are visible to the unaided eye planets will be above the horizon at the same time, shortly after sunset. However, Venus will be very tricky to see since it will set very shortly after the Sun. To see it you will need to have an exceptionally flat western horizon, for example by observing over an ocean horizon at the coast. At sunset, it will have an altitude of 7.7°.
Additionally, Mercury will be quite tricky to see since it will also set shortly after the Sun. It will also be visible only if you have a flat western horizon, clear of obstructions such as buildings or trees. At sunset, it will have an altitude of 10.6°.
It is relatively rare for all of the planets to be aligned in one hemisphere so as to all be above the horizon at the same moment. Such an alignment between the five planets which are visible to the unaided eye happens roughly once every 6 years, while an alignment that also includes Uranus and Neptune, which require binoculars or a telescope to be seen, happens around once every 70 years.
However, since the planets in the outer solar system – especially Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – move quite slowly through the constellations, such alignments can occur multiple times in quick succession, or not at all for over 100 years.
The positions of all the planets at sunset will be as follows:
| Planet | Altitude at sunset |
Direction at sunset |
Planet sets at |
Mag | Constellation |
| Venus | 7.7° | west | 20:52 | -3.9 | Leo |
| Mercury | 10.6° | west | 21:06 | 0.2 | Leo |
| Jupiter | 18.6° | west | 21:49 | -1.7 | Virgo |
| Mars | 25.7° | south | 00:23 | -0.5 | Scorpius |
| Saturn | 28.3° | south | 01:18 | 0.2 | Ophiuchus |
Celestial coordinates
The positions of each of the planets will be:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| Venus | 11h00m | 7°54'N | Leo | -3.9 | 10"4 |
| Jupiter | 11h42m | 3°04'N | Virgo | -1.7 | 30"6 |
| Mars | 16h12m | 24°02'S | Scorpius | -0.5 | 11"5 |
| Saturn | 16h32m | 20°18'S | Ophiuchus | 0.2 | 17"1 |
| Mercury | 11h25m | 1°42'N | Leo | 0.2 | 7"3 |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0.
Next/previous occurrences
| « Previous | Objects simultaneously visible | Next » |
| 22 Jan 1984 | All seven planets | 16 Jun 2022 |
| 07 Feb 2016 | All five planets that are visible to the unaided eye |
16 Jun 2022 |
The sky on 4 Aug 2016
| The sky on 4 August 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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6% 2 days old |
All times shown in EDT.
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Source
The circumstances of this event were computed using the DE430 planetary ephemeris published by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL).
This event was automatically generated by searching the ephemeris for planetary alignments which are of interest to amateur astronomers, and the text above was generated based on an estimate of your location.
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| 28 Sep 2016 | – Mercury at greatest elongation west |
| 29 Sep 2016 | – Mercury at highest altitude in morning sky |
Image credit
The Moon in conjunction with Venus and Jupiter, with the Very Large Telescope in the foreground. Image © Y. Beletsky, ESO, 2009.