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Although all the planets remain within a narrow band of the sky centred on the path of the Sun through the year, called the Ecliptic, because of their different orbital periods they are not usually close together within that band. To have two of them close together is not that unusual but to have three near to each other is distinctly noteworthy, and for more than three to align is very rare - there is more information about this at the top of the previous page.
Even if we reduce the "nearness" criterion to just several planets being visible in the night sky at the same time rather than being close together, such occurrences are still not common. There was such a "grouping" at the end of 2024 and the begining of 2025 though, with all the planets except Mercury being easily visible in the night sky at the same time for several weeks, albeit somewhat spread out. And by "easily visible" I mean able to be seen at a reasonable altitude against a dark sky - possibly only with optical aid though. I thus felt I ought to capture images of each of them, just for the record if for no other reason. Doing so for Neptune wasn't really possible though as by the time my weather conditions improved sufficiently to give me some clear skies it was quite low down in the west and thus getting lost in the twilight.
The device below enables you to step across the sky from East to West viewing (in turn) Mars, Jupiter, Jupiter plus Uranus (with a locator for Uranus next), and then the Moon plus Venus & Saturn as they were to be seen at the beginning of February. Were it to be visible, Neptune would have been seen slightly to the lower left of Venus - as shown by the final frame.
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Mercury will join the party at the end of February but both it and Saturn will be very low in the west (only 4 degrees above the horizon 40 minutes after sunset on the 25th) so it, and particularly Saturn at just magnitude +1, will only be visible under excellent viewing conditions. I shall have a look if the weather allows, however!
And as to when the next "Parade" might be visible, that's actually a difficult question to answer as it depends on how many and which planets you expect to see, across how great a span of sky, and during which part of the night. It is relatively straightforward to search for actual conjunctions i.e. when the planets are really close together, but difficult to look for occasions when several are visible but spread across the sky. However, for those of you who like to get up early, the Internet tells us that in mid-October 2028 the planets Jupiter, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Uranus & Saturn will all be above the horizon around dawn, in that order, from East to West with the Moon also present from the 15th until the 18th. How many of the planets will actually be visible is, of course, another matter. Jupiter rises only 70 minutes or so before the Sun during this period and so at sunrise on the 16th, for example, it will sit at just a little over 10 degrees above the bright eastern (dawn) horizon and thus could be difficult to see even at magnitude -1.67. Similarly, Mercury at magnitude -0.32 will only be 15.5 degrees high. Probably worth marking your diaries though, as you will have a few days to capture the lineup.
A better bet might be the evening of 22nd February 2034 when at sunset you should be able to see (from East to West) Saturn, Uranus, Mars, Moon, Neptune, Jupiter & Venus - the same set as for 2025 but not in the same order. Even better, Jupiter & Venus will be just half a degree apart so at magnitudes -2.04 and -3.9 respectively they should be easy to spot even at only 9 degrees high in the dusk twilight.
But, given the hype about the Parade documented above, the easiest option might be to simply keep an eye on the media - I'm sure they won't let a good story go unreported!
