Even if you aren't a passionate stargazer, you've likely heard the buzz about the planetary alignment on January 25.

Local astronomy expert Donna Burton, who works at Coonabarabran's Siding Spring Observatory and is also known as "Donna the Astronomer", says there's no need to wait that long.

According to the hype, all eight planets will align on one side of the sun and be visible in the night-time sky on January 25.

While true, the facts are the planets orbit the sun on a plane called the ecliptic and are always roughly in line.

The difference is that some planets are usually seen in the evening sky, others in the morning sky, and others, like Mercury, are too close to the sun to see.

“Planets often appear in a long line across the sky called the ecliptic, so the alignment isn’t particularly special,” Ms Burton said.

“What’s less common is seeing four bright planets at once, which doesn’t happen every year - a 'planet parade?'"

"This isn’t a technical term in astronomy, so call it whatever you like.”

Venus and Saturn after sunset 9pm on January 25 (Image: Donna the Astronomer)

“All planets follow this imaginary line.

"This is how we follow the signs of the zodiac, when the sun goes through them and is in that constellation, that's when the zodiac sign is on the calendar.

"These ecliptic lines are visible in both hemispheres.”

Ms Burton said that at the moment, all the planets are visible at some stage during the night, except for Mercury, because it's too close to the sun.

“You can go out at 10 pm and view them all across the Western Plains,” she said.

“Look to the east, where you will see Mars just after 10pm, Jupiter will also be overhead and really bright.

"If you look to the west, early in the evening, you can see Venus and a yellow-looking Saturn.

“From January 17 to 18, Venus and Saturn will have a conjunction, coming within just a couple of finger widths distance apart in the sky (about two degrees).

"Of course, you can't see Uranus and Neptune anyway without a telescope, and even if you do that, it is really hard for people to actually recognise them, because they're very faint.

"So, basically, we are looking for the four major planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Venus.”

While the planets are visible throughout the month, if you are happy to wait and planning to look skyward on January 25, Ms Burton said the planets will be visible as follows -

• Venus will be visible low in the western sky, not as high as it is now just after sunset.
• Mars will be visible in Gemini and will be visible after 9pm low on the eastern horizon.
• Jupiter will be visible as it is now in Taurus.
• Saturn will be close to Venus in the early evening sky.
• Uranus will be near Jupiter, and Neptune will also be in the evening twilight, making it difficult to see.

While Ms Burton is happy with any event that raises public interest in science, and particularly astronomy, she said that, in the big scheme of things, this planetary alignment is not particularly special.

“Basically, the planets are on this line all the time, but this is probably the first time before actually visible,” she said.