This year's February is full of cosmic events – on February 17, the first solar eclipse of 2026 will take place, and on February 28, a small parade of planets will gather. This was discussed at the Moscow Planetarium.
That's right, Muscovites do not need to wait for the eclipse – it will be observed in the southern hemisphere of the planet, in Antarctica, but it will not go unnoticed from Russia.
Another thing is the parade of planets. On February 28, six planets will gather in the evening sky: Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn, Neptune, Mercury and Venus.
“The four planets will form a small parade: Saturn, Neptune, Mercury and Venus, which will appear together in a narrow (20 degree) area of the sky,” the planetarium explains. “In clear weather after sunset, for one hour (from 18:50 Moscow time to 19:30 Moscow time) Venus and Saturn will be visible low on the western horizon. Mercury can be found only with binoculars and Neptune, with great difficulty, if possible, only through a good telescope.”
The parade of planets is a phenomenon when the planets of our solar system are in the same line with the Sun with a little scattering and are close to each other on the celestial sphere.
Mars will not participate in the “celestial show” this time. Jupiter and Uranus will be visible in the night sky, but Uranus will only be visible through a telescope. The remaining four planets will make up the small parade. This February is also notable because it marks 60 years since humans first saw close-up images of the lunar surface. The photo was taken and transmitted by Soviet station Luna 9 in 1966.
