FAIRFIELD — If you are lucky enough to be where the sky is clear over the next few evenings, you may be able to see a rare planetary phenomenon — all of the Earth’s neighboring planets lined up across the sky.

“The other six have been in the sky for well over a month,” John Meader, educator and owner of Northern Stars Planetarium in Fairfield, said. “So it’s not only happening (now).”

The addition of Mercury, which is moving into the night sky now for the next several days, makes the lineup stand out.

The planets in the solar system orbit the sun on roughly the same plane or ecliptic line, Meader said, much like a record album spinning on a phonograph. So while they are not close together, they appear to travel across the sky roughly in line.

The planetary parade is the latest in a series of celestial events that have grabbed the public’s attention. In April, a total eclipse of the sun briefly plunged parts of Maine into total darkness. And then in May, a cycle of intense solar activity kicked off opportunities to see the northern lights in places where they are seldom seen and to see them more frequently in places where they are more commonly seen, like Maine.

This one, Meader cautioned, will be a little harder to see because the planets won’t all be visible to the naked eye. Binoculars or a backyard telescope might bring some in focus, but seeing the solar system’s farthest planets will require the help of a big telescope and even then, seeing the planets might be tricky.

That’s due in part to the planets’ location in the sky and the time they can be seen. Meader said viewers will need a clear view of the western horizon just after sunset.

“There are going to be three planets that are really easy to see,” he said.

The bright star — Meader referred to all the planets as stars — that can be seen even in sunset’s glow is Venus. To find the three that appear beneath Venus will require binoculars. Just below that and very close to the horizon will be Mercury. Just beneath that will be Saturn. Just above Mercury is Neptune, he said, which will appear as a faint blue star though a really good telescope is required to see it.

“It’s in the glow of sunset, so even with a really big telescope you are probably not going to see it very well.”

To find the next group of planets, Meader recommends seeking out Orion, an hourglass-shaped constellation with the stars forming a belt. Just up and to the right of that will be Jupiter, which is nearly as bright as Venus. With binoculars or a telescope it might be possible to see four of its moons, which move in a straight line as they orbit the planet and will sparkle a bit.

To Jupiter’s right will be the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters. Just beneath that is Uranus, which like Neptune, can’t easily be seen. If it can, it will be a faint, baby bluish star. Off to the left will be the bright, reddish-orange Mars.

While some planets line up in the sky fairly routinely, the next time the seven planets will line up is 2040.

Not everyone will be able to see them across Maine, thanks to the weather system that’s pushing through Maine Friday into Saturday.

Greg Cornwell, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Gray, said sky conditions Friday are expected to be overcast across the state, with clouds rolling in mid-afternoon. The cloud cover will continue through Saturday, but will clear out starting Sunday.

If you miss this, March will bring more celestial events worth staying up late or getting up early for that will be visible across Maine if the skies are clear.

Very early on March 14, around 2:30 a.m., a lunar eclipse will happen, when the moon moves into the earth’s shadow and will appear orange for about an hour.

And just as the sun rises on March 29, right around 6:30 a.m., it will be 70% eclipsed. Meader said solar eclipse glasses will be required to look at the sun.

Kennebec Journal staff writer Emily Duggan contributed to this report.