Planetary Parade Today: Here’s how to watch rare cosmic event

A rare celestial event is set to delight sky gazers at dawn on Monday. A unique planetary alignment, known as the Parade of Planets 2024, will be visible in the sky before sunrise tomorrow. This alignment will be most clearly seen on Monday, June 3, but can be observed over several days.

Planetary alignment refers to a rare positioning of planets in the solar system, creating the illusion that they are all in a straight line. It's worth noting that this alignment is more of an optical illusion than a physical event.

According to NASA, a planetary alignment occurs when two or more planets come close together in the sky, forming a conjunction. The 2024 alignment includes six planets: Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

The planetary alignment of 2024 will be visible across India, with clear skies expected tomorrow. It is advisable to set an alarm to catch a glimpse of the planetary parade before sunrise each day this week.

The best time to observe the planet parade will be about one hour before sunrise on June 3. According to a recent post by NASA, people can spot the parade of planets "exactly one hour before" sunrise (local time). Due to bright light, it may be difficult to see all the planets, with only the Moon, Mars, and Saturn being clearly visible. A telescope will be needed to spot the other planets.