Technologies

A Planet Parade Is Happening This Week: How to See 6 Planets In the Sky

Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Uranus and Neptune will all be in the night sky at the same time.

One of the coolest celestial events is happening this week, where six planets will be visible in the night sky at the same time. This phenomenon, known as a planet parade, occurs only a few times each year with varying numbers of planets.

This particular planet parade will include Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. It’s just one planet shy of the full set, a phenomenon that is quite rare and most recently happened a year ago, in February 2025. You’ll need a telescope to see everything, especially since much of it will occur right at dusk, which will make a few of the planets harder to see.

When will the planet parade happen?

The Northern Hemisphere will get its best glimpse at the planet parade around sunset this week. This one will be particularly challenging for skywatchers because of light pollution, as spotting planets with the sun even partially up is more difficult. Your best bet is around 6:45 p.m. local time, and your window will be exceedingly short. Mercury and Venus drop below the horizon roughly 30 to 45 minutes later, so that’s all the time you’ll have.

The good news is that Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Neptune are all clustered together against the western horizon near the setting sun. Venus and Mercury will be right next to each other, and Saturn and Neptune will be clumped together nearby. That should make the four of them a little bit easier to spot, which is a boon for skygazers given the short window.

Jupiter and Uranus will be the easiest to spot and will remain in the sky long after the other four planets have dipped below the horizon. Uranus will travel across the southern sky alongside the Taurus constellation before dropping below the western horizon a few hours after midnight. Jupiter will follow a very similar path to Uranus, but it is hanging out with the Gemini constellation.

All told, the best dates to view the planet parade in the US, Canada and Mexico are Feb. 21 to 28. Before Feb. 21, Venus and Mercury will be too close to the sun. Once March begins, Mercury will drift closer to the sun again, dipping below the horizon before it’s readily visible. Once that happens, the five-planet parade will continue for about another week or so before Neptune and Saturn dip below the horizon, thus ending the parade and leaving only Venus, Jupiter and Uranus visible in the sky.

Will the planet parade be visible in my region?

Yes. We checked Stellarium’s sky map from several locations across the US, Mexico and Canada, and the planet parade was visible in every place we checked. According to Star Walk, the parade will be visible everywhere from Tokyo to London. We also checked the Southern Hemisphere, and it’ll be visible there as well. The dates vary based on location, but most places should be able to see it at some point between now and Feb. 28.

How can I find the various planets in the sky?

The image above gives you a general idea of where they’ll be in relation to one another, but the best thing to do is check out a sky map and plan ahead. We recommend Stellarium’s sky map if you’re on a desktop and Stellarium Mobile (Android and iOS) if you’re using your phone.

We recommend finding Venus first because it’s the easiest planet to spot out of the four that are near the sun. You can then use the app to find the other three. Jupiter and Uranus are alone in the night sky and will remain there after the other four dip below the horizon, so we recommend finding those last, since they’ll be around longer.

Will I need any special equipment to view the parade?

Yes. With four of the planets close to the sun, it will make them hard to spot with the naked eye, thanks to the light pollution. Uranus and Neptune are impossible to see without a magnification device of some sort, even in total darkness. A telescope is highly recommended. Astronomers suggest a minimum aperture of 8 inches and 50x magnification to get the best results. That is strong enough to see the rings of Uranus and Saturn. You need a telescope with roughly 150 times magnification to peep the rings on Neptune.

The usual space viewing tips also apply. Get away from the city to a place with as little light pollution as possible, since you’re already fighting the sun to see these things. And be very careful not to point your telescope at the sun, since that can damage your eyes. Try to pick a night with as little cloud cover as possible.

The first of three planet parades in 2026

Planet parades are uncommon, but sometimes the universe smiles on Earth. This year is going to be really good for planet parades, as three are expected in 2026. February is the first one. The other two are slated for April (five planets) and August (six planets). That means there are two more chances to watch a planet parade in 2026 if you miss the one in February.

Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know