Well now it all makes sense! I had my suspicions that Angel Chuck Billy got distracted and wandered off leaving his snow making machine pointed at us. Now I have proof as to why! This Saturday will be a rare planetary parade, followed by a total lunar eclipse on Tuesday. I’m certain Angel Chuck Billy must be positioning himself along the parade route so he won’t miss it!
Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Neptune, Uranus and Mercury will be in alignment around the evening of February 28, 2026! Well sort of. Like most parades, there will be some bunching up of the participants, so it isn’t exactly a straight line. Also where you view the parade makes a difference on how much of it you’ll see. StarWalk.space recommends heading outside about 30 to 60 minutes after sunset. Facing west you’ll see low on the horizon Mercury, Venus, and Saturn. Then following that line, high in the southeast/east is Jupiter. For the tail end of the parade, you will need a telescope to see Uranus and Neptune bringing up the rear. If you need help orienting yourself, Space.com recommends using a smartphone stargazing app.
Better yet, what’s a parade without music? Well NASA.gov has you covered! Sonifications from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory will help you “hear” the parade! As Lee Mohon explains in, “Listen to This Month’s ‘Planetary Parade’ with NASA’s Chandra,” (February 25, 2026), “In Chandra’s sonifications, which translate astronomical data into sound, three of the planets that will be on display – Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus – can be seen and heard in ways that they cannot from Earth.” Say what? Chandra is a high powered telescope that uses x-rays from the Sun to explore planets, moons, and other bodies in a way that traditional telescopes cannot. But that’s not to say other telescopes don’t play a role here in creating this concert. As Mohon explains:
“The sonification of Jupiter combines X-ray data from Chandra with an infrared image from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Woodwind sounds reveal Chandra’s X-ray data, including emission from the planet’s auroras. More instruments join in to represent the planet’s complex cloud layers. Next, through the combination of an optical image from NASA’s Cassini mission and X-rays from Chandra, listeners can experience Saturn like never before. A siren-like sound follows the arc of the rings, and different tones of synthesizers play as the scan passes the planet itself. Finally, listeners can hear the ice giant Uranus through the data collected by Chandra and the W.M. Keck Observatory. The data in this sonification reflects the amount of light detected from the planet and the orientation of its ring.” (NASA.gov)
How’s that for an out of this world parade experience?! No wonder Angel Chuck Billy, the renowned Dog Ufologist, got distracted and wandered off to get his place along the Planetary Parade route. If you want to listen to this parade while gazing at the night sky, go to NASA.gov. To find a chart for optimal viewing dates and times in places in the US and UK, visit StarWalk.Space.
Also the fun doesn’t end there! On March 3, 2026 there will be a total lunar eclipse! The best viewing times for this event will be in the evening from eastern Asia and Australia, throughout the night in the Pacific, and in the early morning in North and Central America and far western South America. The eclipse is partial in central Asia and much of South America. Confused? Yes, me too. Thankfully the folks at NASA.gov in “March 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse: Your Questions Answered,” (January 29, 2026) provide charts and times to help you figure out when in your corner of the world you should look up. My apologies to friends in Europe and Africa, the lunar eclipse won’t be visible in your neck of the woods. However, you can watch it online thanks to LiveScience.com!
