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Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

The featured image shows four planets lined up behind the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The image was taken one morning in April 2022, just before sunrise. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.The featured image shows four planets lined up behind the Sydney Opera House in Australia. The image was taken one morning in April 2022, just before sunrise. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

Planet Parade over Sydney Opera House

Explanation: Look up this week and see a whole bunch of planets. Just after sunset, looking west (mostly), planets Mercury , Venus , Saturn , and Jupiter will all be visible to the unaided eye simultaneously. If you have a telescope, planets Uranus and Neptune can also be seen. In order up from the horizon, the lineup this week will be Venus (the brightest), Mercury , Saturn , Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter (second brightest). It doesn't matter where on Earth you live because this early evening planet parade will be visible through clear skies all around the globe. The planets will appear to be nearly in a line because they all orbit the Sun in nearly the same plane: the ecliptic . The featured image shows a similar planet parade that occurred in 2022, captured over the Sydney Opera House in southern Australia . Although visible all week , the planets will be most easily seen together this weekend.

Date February 24, 2026
Credit Image Credit & Copyright: Prasun Agrawal
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
NASA Science Activation & Michigan Tech. U.