Alignments of five or more planets are rare—there will be two more featuring five or more planets this year, but after that the next won’t happen until 2040.

Six planets grace the sky this month in what's known as a planetary parade, and most can be seen with the naked eye. These planetary hangouts happen when several planets appear to line up in the night sky at once.

In January, stargazers will be able to see four bright planets, the close dance of Venus and Saturn, Mars at opposition, and celestial views.

Six planets will be in alignment this weekend, with four of them shining bright in one sweeping view. What to know about the planet parade.

On Friday 17 January and Saturday 18 January, six planets will line up in the night sky, in an event that some astronomers refer to as a planetary parade. Mars, Jupiter, Neptune, Saturn, Uranus and Venus will appear together in a row, although Neptune and Uranus will only be visible with binoculars or a telescope.

Starting Saturday evening, you’ll be able to see not one, two or three planets in the night sky, but four. The graphic you see shows the moon's trajectory through the night sky. This means at its peak,

Six planets will be visible from the visible eye throughout January in a somewhat rare astronomical occurrence known as a "planetary parade."