A Spectacular Planetary Alignment is Expected Overnight; Next Occurrence in the 23rd Century

On the night of January 6-7, 2026, a spectacular alignment of planets is set to occur, with the next similar event not happening until the 23rd century. Levon Azizyan, director of the Hydro-Meteorological and Monitoring Center, reported this on his Facebook page.

At this moment, the Sun, Venus, and Mars will align in a straight line due to their orbital movements, according to a press release from the Joint Laboratory of Solar Astronomy at the Institute of Space Research and the Institute of Solar and Terrestrial Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

When viewed from Earth, the Sun and the two closest planets will nearly coincide at the same point. This alignment is metaphorically likened by experts to the Star of Bethlehem.

On January 6 and 7, the angular distance between the planets and the Sun will be approximately 1.2 degrees. On January 8, this distance will reduce to less than 1 degree. Similar approaches of planets to the Sun within a degree have been recorded only three times in the last 500 years: in 1669, 1682, and 1968.

This phenomenon can only be observed three times in this millennium over a millennium, in June 2267, December 2324, and finally in December 2623 (not including this year's alignment). A similar approach, but more than 1 degree, was observed relatively recently in October 2006.

Experts emphasize that the probability of such an event coinciding with a specific calendar date (in this case, with the Orthodox Church's Christmas) is extremely low, occurring approximately once every 20,000 years.