March 2028 Planet Parade: 4 planets in the evening sky
Best seen the evening of Tuesday, March 14, 2028.
From mid-northern latitudes (around 40°N), look toward the western sky about 48 minutes after sunset. 4 planets line up, 3 visible to the naked eye, plus 1 with binoculars or a telescope. Good evenings run from Mar 9, 2028 to Mar 29, 2028.
- Venus · 35° up in W
- Jupiter · 13° up in E
- Saturn · 20° up in W
- Uranus (telescope) · 57° up in WSW
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus share the evening sky around Mar 14, 2028. Below: what each planet looks like, how to catch the line-up, and how this parade compares with its neighbors.
Call it a planet parade or a line-up; either way it is a viewing-angle coincidence, not a rendezvous. The Solar System is flat enough that its planets always keep to one narrow track across our sky, so when several are up at once they inevitably form a rough line. Everything quoted here is figured for mid-northern latitudes (around 40°N), and the live tracker adjusts it to your own horizon.
Planet by planet
Venus sits a comfortable 35° above the horizon in the west. Venus can be bright enough to throw the faintest shadow from a truly dark site, and it is often mistaken for a distant aircraft light.
Jupiter hangs low, only about 13° up in the east, so it needs a flat, open horizon in that direction. The giant planet is second only to Venus in brightness, and steady binoculars already show its four Galilean moons as tiny points.
Saturn sits a comfortable 20° above the horizon in the west. Saturn takes nearly thirty years to circle the zodiac, so it lingers in the same neighborhood of sky from one parade to the next.
Uranus rides high, about 57° up in the west-southwest, well clear of any horizon haze. Uranus was the first planet ever found with a telescope, spotted by William Herschel in 1781, and it rewards the same modest optics today.
On the zodiac that evening, Venus stands in Taurus; Jupiter stands in Virgo; Saturn stands in Aries; Uranus stands in Gemini. Signs here are the tropical longitudes the tables on this site use, counted from 0° at the spring equinox.
How to watch this parade
No alarm needed: start about 48 minutes after local sunset on Tuesday, March 14, 2028, once the twilight has faded enough for the planets to pop out one by one.
The limiting planet is Jupiter at only about 13° up, so pick a viewing spot with an unobstructed view toward the east. The line stretches about 146° along the ecliptic, so sweep your gaze along the Sun's daily path to trace it.
No two planets crowd together this time; the closest pair, Venus and Saturn, are about 14° apart, so the line reads as a string rather than a knot.
You need no equipment for Venus, Jupiter and Saturn; Uranus is the reason to bring binoculars or a small telescope.
How good is this one?
Our tracker scores every parade from 0 to 100. This one rates 52 out of 100: 20 of 35 points for the number of planets, 15 of 25 for naked-eye planets, 4 of 20 for how tightly they group, 10 of 10 for altitude, and 3 of 10 for staying power.
The window is forgiving: good evenings run for roughly 3 weeks (Mar 9, 2028 to Mar 29, 2028), so one cloudy night costs you nothing. The previous parade over this reference location peaked in February 2028 with 4 planets; the next comes in May 2028 with 4 planets.
Can a parade influence Earth? No; the influence runs the other way, on observers. Planetary gravity at these distances amounts to a rounding error next to the Moon's everyday tides, thousands of times smaller even in combination. Nothing in the ocean, the atmosphere or the crust registers a parade. Eyes and cameras do.
Frequently asked questions
Which planets are part of the March 2028 planet parade?
Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are visible to the naked eye; Uranus needs binoculars or a telescope.
What time should I look for the March 2028 planet parade?
Start looking about 48 minutes after local sunset, with the best evening on Tuesday, March 14, 2028. Good evenings run from Mar 9, 2028 to Mar 29, 2028.
Do I need a telescope to see this planet parade?
Not for the highlights: Venus, Jupiter and Saturn show with the unaided eye. You only need binoculars or a telescope for Uranus.
Where in the sky should I look?
Face the western sky about 48 minutes after sunset. The planets sit between about 13° and 57° above the horizon, strung along the ecliptic.
Keep exploring: the Planet Parade Tracker for any date and place, the Planetary Alignment Calculator for exact conjunction dates, and the Synodic-Period Calculator for how often two planets meet.