Will alignment of Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn be visible in Scotland?

Stargazers are in for a rare treat as seven planets will be visible across the night sky.

On February 28, a planetary parade will see Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury and Saturn line up.

This phenomenon is a rare sight, and it will be the last time seven planets can be seen so clearly at the same time until 2040.

This is the second time in 2024 that a striking line of planets has been visible across the night sky, with some stargazers catching a glimpse of a five-planet line-up in January.

Planetary parades of four or five planets happen pretty regularly, though alignments of six or seven are more rare.

So, those who missed out may be in luck, as all seven planets closest to Earth are set to align this week.

Where and when is best to see the planets?

On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, just after sunset, you will have the best chance to see as many planets as possible.

Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars will be visible to the naked eye with clear skies.

Saturn will be harder to see because it will be low in the horizon, and people will need a telescope to spot Uranus and Neptune.

Most importantly, to catch a glimpse of the planets, we’ll need clear skies, which unfortunately don’t look like they’ll be available in Scotland.

STV meteorologist, Sean Batty, said: “A high pressure is on the way for the end of the week, and while that’s usually good news for more settled weather, unfortunately it can still come with a lot of cloud and that’s what I think will happen this weekend.”

However, he did say he wasn’t writing off the chance of seeing the alignment completely saying Scots may still be able to catch a small glimpse.

“Scotland will remain in a westerly air flow on Saturday and Sunday and weak weather fronts will bring patchy light rain to the west of the country with the best of any cloud breaks in the south and east.

“So, while I’m not writing off the chance of seeing the planet alignment it looks like it’ll be glimpses of it at best for us here,” he said.