Planetary Alignment over Italy.

It is not a coincidence that planets line up. That's because all of the planets orbit the Sun in (nearly) a single sheet called the plane of the ecliptic . When viewed from inside that plane -- as Earth dwellers are likely to do -- the planets all appear confined to a single band . It is a coincidence, though, when three of the brightest planets all appear in nearly the same direction. Such a coincidence was captured earlier this month. Featured above (right to left), Venus , Saturn , and Jupiter were all imaged together in a line just after sunset, from the San Fermo Hills , Bergamo , Italy . Joining the alignment are Earth's Moon , and the position of the more distant Uranus . Bands of clouds streak across the sky toward the setting Sun . As Comet Leonard fades, this planetary alignment -- absent the Moon -- should persist for the rest of the month.

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