The so-called "Seven Planets in a Conjunction" is a rehash of astronomy, but how many of them can we actually see?

For the general public, the so-called "Seven Planets in a Conjunction", "Eight Planets in a Conjunction", "Nine Planets in a Conjunction" and so on are definitely mysterious and high-end astronomical phenomena. Now, the "Seven Planets in a Conjunction" forecast has begun to appear all over the Internet.

A rare astronomical phenomenon. Is it? First, a question. Which of the following pictures do you think is a "seven stars in a row"? The top one? Or the bottom one?

Above? Well, it's very rare. You may not encounter it once in your life.

Below? Yes, this is common. Because on the celestial sphere, the planets are all in the zodiac. In other words, at any time, these planets are always arranged in a straight line on the zodiac. It's just that the order is different at different times.

So what exactly is the "Seven Planets in a Conjunction"? There is actually no very strict definition for this. If there is, it is only an empirical definition, or a man-made condition - when the arrangement of the seven planets in their orbits is ≤30° relative to the sun, it can be considered a "Seven Planets in a Conjunction" astronomical phenomenon. If there are eight planets, it is an "Eight Planets in a Conjunction". However, such a celestial phenomenon may not be special when viewed from Earth. For example, the "Seven Planets in a Conjunction" in the picture above (excluding the Earth), Mercury and Venus cannot be seen on Earth because they are in the same direction as the Sun, and the sunlight completely obscures the two planets. We can only see the five outer planets huddled together in the night sky. Unless, you can have a God's perspective and leave the ecliptic plane, then you will really see the planets arranged in a straight line.

So will the "Seven Planets in a Conjunction" really appear in late February 2025? It's easy. Just find an electronic star map app and simulate it. Let's take the planetary arrangement on February 21, 2025 as an example (see the figure below).

Even if we exclude the more distant Uranus and Neptune, the angle of the planetary arrangement relative to the sun is more than four 30°! The "Seven Planets in a Row" does not exist at all!

In fact, the only planetary phenomenon worth mentioning in late February 2025 is that we can see all the major planets except the Earth in the night sky at the same time (with sunset as a reference) (see the figure below).

As for being aligned, that's not really worth mentioning. Because they are always aligned. The only difference is whether we can see them in the night sky. Because when the planets move in the same direction as the sun, we can't see them.

The figure below shows the rising and setting times of the seven planets on February 25, 2025, as queried by Astronomy.

However, it is not uncommon for all the major planets to appear in the night sky at the same time, and it can be seen almost every year. Therefore, it is not worth mentioning.