How to see the 'planet parade' in North East skies this January in stargazing spectacle

If you've been admiring the night sky recently, you may have noticed a few stars that look different to the rest - but did you know that you're actually looking at other worlds?

Talk of a "planet parade" in January 2025 has sparked excitement among budding stargazers - and while it's not quite the rare event that some reports have hyped it up to be, it is nonetheless an incredible opportunity to see several of our planetary neighbours at their biggest and brightest. Throughout this month, you will be able to see Mars, Venus, Jupiter and even Saturn with your own eyes if you know where to look.

As the experts at NASA have explained: "Planets always appear along a line in the sky, so the 'alignment' isn't special. What's less common is seeing four or five bright planets at once, which doesn't happen every year. Is it a 'planet parade'? This isn't a technical term in astronomy, so call it what you wish!"

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In other words, with the cold snap forecast to come to an end this week and long clear spells forecast in the North East, there's no time like the present to get out and find some planets. However, bear in mind that the full moon on January 13, while making for spectacular viewing in its own right, might also make spotting some planets more difficult due to its brightness.

It will be reduced to a quarter moon just over a week later by January 22, so if conditions are clear you can try heading out again around this date if you have no luck when it is at its fullest. The first thing to do is after it gets dark, at around 6pm, find a dark open spot where you have a good view of the sky away from as much light pollution as possible and face south.

Overhead not far from the moon, a very bright star high up in the sky will likely catch your eye - this is Jupiter, and if you manage to find a particularly dark spot you may even notice a line of tiny stars next to it that are the gas giant's moons. Looking towards the east on your left, you should see a star that appears brighter and more red than the others - this is our neighbour Mars.

If you look to the south-west on your right in the early evening, you should be able to spot another very bright star, which is our other neighbouring planet Venus - being able to see the two at opposite ends of the night sky gives you an incredible perspective of our very own Earth sitting in the middle. And if you look very closely, you will be able to make out a small but bright star not far above Venus slightly to the left, which is Saturn.

Explaining just how spectacular it is that you can see Venus and Saturn right next to each other, the experts at NASA elaborated: "These events are sometimes called 'alignments' of the planets, and while it's true that they will appear more or less along a line across the sky, that's what planets always do. That line is called the ecliptic, and it represents the plane of the solar system in which the planets orbit around the Sun.

"This is, incidentally, why we sometimes observe planets appearing to approach closely to each other on the sky, as we view them along a line while they careen around the cosmic racetrack. This is exactly what we'll be seeing from Venus and Saturn as they head for a super close approach in mid-January.

"After the beginning of the month, they quickly get closer and closer each evening, appearing at their most cosy on the 17th and 18th before going their separate ways. Remember, they're really hundreds of millions of miles apart in space, so when you observe them, you're staring clear across the solar system!"

These are the four planets that you should be able to see with the naked eye when conditions are favourable, but Uranus and Neptune are also hiding in the night sky this month. However, you will mostly likely need the help of a telescope to see them - a powerful astronomical telescope will also enable you to see the big four in more detail, from the colourful bands of Jupiter to the tiny rings of Saturn.

Bear in mind that the location of the planets moves both during the course of each night and throughout the month, so the best thing to do if you're new to stargazing is to use an app which helps you to track the night sky in real time. There are a number of apps available to download and use for free, including Star Walk 2, Star Tracker and SkyView Lite.