Get ready: We won't see this until 2040

Since January, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn can be seen in the sky with the naked eye, and with the help of a telescope, Uranus and Neptune, which from Earth look like they are arranged in a line.

Mercury will join these heavenly bodies today. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Mars will be visible with the naked eye, Saturn will be harder to see because it will be low on the horizon, while Uranus and Neptune can only be seen with a telescope, writes Science Alert.

It is not unusual for several planets to be on the same side of the Sun at the same time, but it is less common for most or even all of the planets to align like this. Any number of planets from three to eight represents an alignment, and the assembly of five or six planets is known as a grand alignment.

Alignments of five planets are significantly more common than six, and grand alignments with seven planets are the rarest.

An alignment of four or five planets visible to the naked eye occurs every few years, and in late August, four planets will be visible at once before sunrise.