Four planets to be visible in Washington state in January. How to view the rare alignment

Look up into the sky above Washington state this month on a clear night, and you might see a rare celestial occurrence in the sky.

During January 2025, a large planetary conjunction involving four planets – Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars – will be visible with the naked eye, according to NASA. You’ll also be able to see the Quadrantid meteor shower, which peaked on Friday.

The four planets will be most visible together from Jan. 10, according to the Farmers’ Almanac. The night of Jan. 21 will be the best time to see them during the evening, according to Forbes.

The last time multiple planets lined up in a similar pattern was in June 2024, when Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune aligned across the sky.

Here’s what to know about the unique solar occurrence happening this month

The planets of the solar system all move around the same orbital plane, according to National Geographic, so when several planets are on the same side of the sun as Earth, it looks as if they’re close together. In reality, the planets are many millions of miles apart.

Sometimes several planets can be on the same side of the sun as Earth but not align due to their orbital positions. Seeing four planets at once in the night sky is a fairly rare event, according to NASA, which has dubbed it a “planetary parade.”

The “planetary parade” will become most visible after the sun sets starting Jan. 10. The four planets should be visible to the naked eye. Venus and Saturn will be in the southwest, Jupiter will be overhead and Mars can be seen in the east. Uranus and Neptune will also be in the conjunction, but a telescope will be needed to see them, according to NASA.

Uranus is so far away – an average distance of 1.8 billion miles according to NASA – that unless you’re in a pitch-dark area like Alder Lake Park about an hour south of Tacoma, you’ll need a magnification device.

You can use a light pollution map to find areas that have less artificial light, which is better for stargazing. The Clear Sky Charts website shows places in Washington where the sky is unobstructed by trees, and includes a gradient tool to overlay light pollution so you can find the most unobstructed viewing area with the least amount of light pollution.

What will WA weather be like in January?

While it is too soon for the National Weather Service in Seattle to forecast the weather on Jan. 10, most of western Washington state is expected to have cloudy weather during this time of year, according to NWS meteorologist Samantha Borth.

“We have some systems moving in throughout next week, which is before the time frame,” said Borth. “We’ll have potentially some clearing, but it’s hard to say for Jan. 10 already.”