Two faraway worlds in the solar system are about to appear rather close to each other in the night sky on Monday.
The first planet from the sun, Mercury, and Saturn, the second of the gas giants in the outer solar system, are about to pass each other in the western sky after sunset, according to The Planetary Society, a nonprofit focused on astronomy and space exploration founded by scientist and author Carl Sagan.
Planetary conjunctions happen when two or more planets appear close together from Earth's perspective, The Planetary Society's website stated. The incidents happen when planets, orbiting around the sun in roughly the same plane, go around the sun in their own orbital paths and appear near each other.
Both worlds are set to appear with Venus and the other four gas giants, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune in a planetary parade on Feb. 28, the third so far in 2025. Given it is not always common to see so many planets together in the night sky, planetary parades in alignment make for a unique event, according to NASA.
Mercury has a rocky surface when, facing the sun, can reach highs of 800 degrees while overnight lows could reach minus 290 degrees, according to the space agency. Venus holds the crown of the hottest planet in the solar system, at 900 degrees.
Mercury measures at almost half of one astronomical unit between the sun and Earth (the distance between Earth and the sun being one astronomical unit), NASA stated.
Meanwhile, Saturn is 9.5 astronomical units away from the sun, according to astronomers. Instead of a rocky surface like Mercury, hydrogen and helium mostly make up Saturn's surface, with prominent rings made of ice, dust and rock.
Saturn is also not the only ringed planet, as all of the remaining three gas giants - Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune - have faint rings. And as of June 2023, Saturn has 146 moons orbiting it, including Enceladus and Titan.
Mercury and Saturn exist in two separate halves of the solar system, divided by the asteroid belt. Mercury is followed by Venus, Earth and Mars, all rocky planets. Earth's largest neighbor, Jupiter, starts off the outer solar system. Saturn is the second largest planet, with Uranus and Neptune trailing behind it.
And way off in the Kuiper Belt, a doughnut-shaped ring of ice and rock circling around the solar system orbits the demoted dwarf planet Pluto, formerly the ninth planet.