Look to the sky Friday night for the rare chance to see seven planets lined up. The big picture: Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Uranus, Jupiter and Mars will appear together in a "planetary alignment" or "parade of planets" shortly after sunset Friday,

When we have five or more planets filing into a small sky area, an alignment is upgraded to parade status. Parade is not an official astronomical term and is used fast, loose and with a touch more whimsy than space experts usually allow for.

Lineups of four or five planets occur every few years, according to NASA. In late August 2025, four planets will be visible before sunrise, and in late October 2028, five planets will be visible at once before sunrise. Another five-planet alignment will occur in late February 2034, with the planets visible after sunset.