In early January 2026, there will be a very interesting alignment in our skies, although it will not be visible to us. Nonetheless, I feel may have a powerful effect.
Pop culture or “Facebook” astronomy has flooded the internet with disinformation and I find that rather sad. It creates an unrealistic expectation, and misunderstandings. “Once in a lifetime” “alignments” are popularised encouraging people to go out and look at the skies, which is a great thing; I feel we should all spend more time watching the wonders of our night sky. However, often they return disappointed.
Headlines like “7 planets visible in the sky” really require some caveats. For a start, even I, as an amateur astronomer with a telescope, have never seen Uranus or Neptune. Maybe I haven’t tried hard enough, but they are exceptionally difficult to spot, especially with the naked eye. If you are in an area with very dark skies, something which is becoming rarer by the day, you might have a chance. However, in general, you will see Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. If you are lucky, and particularly if you are at lower latitudes like Guatemala, you will see Mercury too. The inclination of the ecliptic at 15 degrees North means that there is a greater separation between the planet and the horizon. The rather flat inclination of the ecliptic in higher latitudes makes Mercury difficult to spot.
“The planets will be in a line in the sky” they said.
A misconception was made early in 2025 regarding an event. It was widely published as being an alignment, before being reworded as a “planetary parade”. Unfortunately, sensationalist internet sites had propagated the misinformation so that many people believed it was an alignment of some kind. The planets do form (or follow) a line in the sky, but it’s not actually rare. The planets roughly follow the line of the ecliptic, the path of the Sun through the sky. It is the plane of the solar system. To simplify the understanding of this we could think of balls on a plate. From our viewpoint on Earth they might appear to be in a line in the sky, but the reality of their positions within the solar system was a bit more like the diagram below.
It becomes very apparent that this probably is not much of an alignment! Looking up from East to West it was certainly possible to see Mars, then Jupiter (almost overhead), then Venus with Saturn and Mercury close to the horizon at sunset. It was great to see so many planets visible but not really what I would call an alignment. You had to really look from one side of the sky to the other to see it.
Why mention it now?
On January 6th 2026 Venus will be at superior conjunction. Venus and Mercury orbit the Sun within the orbit of the Earth. This means that they can pass between the Earth and the Sun (inferior conjunction) and behind the Sun from the point of view from Earth (superior conjunction).
Mars can pass behind the Sun (conjunction) or put the Earth directly between it and the Sun (opposition, sort of like a full moon).
Approximately every 584 days, Venus will be at superior conjunction. Mars will be at (superior) conjunction every 789 days. In January 2026 these will happen at nearly the same moment. Both Venus and Mars will be “behind” the Sun from our point of view here on Earth. This could be seen very much as an alignment, with the planets coming very close to an exact line extending from the Earth through the Sun.
Interestingly, Jupiter will be at opposition on January 10th 2026, extending that alignment. It is not exact, but it is very close to being a true alignment, with Earth being the filling of the sandwich.
I don’t have an answer for what it all means, but I would suggest this alignment would have a greater effect than the planetary parade of 2025.
Hi Mark, thanks for this wonderful explanation. Its a pitty that there is so much written what isn’t true. You don’t know what to believe or not. So, I am thankful you take the time to write about it. We are having snow, fog, ice and more. No clouds or blue sky but nevertheless we know the planets are somewhere. Have a nice day. Regards Margot
lieber Mark Elmy,
was für ein wunderschöner Artikel! Und dafür danke ich Ihnen sehr!
Ich bin Astrologin und wusste im vergangenen Jahr, dass dieses Alignment einfach nur Blödsinn war! Sie haben das soo gut beschrieben. Nochmals danke!
Und sie haben recht, was die Konstellation jetzt betrifft. Astrologisch: Sonne, Venus und Mars sind in Konjunktion, Jupiter in Opposition dazu.
Und ja, es hat eine Wirkung.
Die männliche und die weibliche Kraft verbinden sich, stärken sich gegenseitig und unterstützen die Erde, die für die Persönlichkeit steht.
Jupiter in Opposition dazu, man könnte sagen, macht Spannung der Gegensätze und der Fülle. Es wollen gegensätzliche Kräfte im Inneren des Einzelnen und im Äußeren, in der äußeren Welt, auch im politischen Bereich gefühlt werden und die Kraft des Einzelnen darf und kann sich dabei stärken, sich selbst fühlen und vertrauen….
Dear Mark Elmy,
What a wonderful article! Thank you so much for it!
I’m an astrologer and I knew last year that this alignment was simply nonsense! You described it so well. Thanks again!
And you’re right about the current constellation. Astrologically speaking: the Sun, Venus, and Mars are in conjunction, with Jupiter in opposition.
And yes, it has an effect.
The masculine and feminine energies connect, strengthen each other, and support the Earth, which represents the personality.
Jupiter in opposition, one could say, creates tension of opposites and abundance. Opposing forces within the individual and in the external world, including the political sphere, want to be felt, and the individual’s power can and should be strengthened in the process, allowing them to feel and trust themselves.
Feedback
Thank you Anette for your kind words. I’m glad that you enjoyed the article, and thank you for your explanation from the astrological perspective