Planetary parade to light up the sky in the coming days

A planetary parade is set to light up the skies in the coming days.

Six planets have aligned, with four of them – Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars – visible to the naked eye.

"Where the sun has just set, Venus will be there and not too far above it will be Saturn, like a golden-coloured star. It's a lot fainter but you'll be able to see it. And then, if you look directly north, you'll see a bright object which will be Jupiter, and then rising in the east, you'll see a bright-coloured orange object which will be Mars," the International Astronomical Union's Antony Gomez said.

Stardome astronomer Josh Aoraki said people "don't need special equipment or telescopes" to enjoy the view.

"You can actually just go outside and see these planets with your eyes."

However, catching a glimpse of the spectacle depends on where in the country you are.

Those in central New Zealand will have the clearest skies, MetService meteorologist John Law said.

"Places like Manawatū, Wanganui, perhaps even the top of the south end could be a good view of the night-time sky as we head into the evening," Law said.

But don't fret if you miss out – there's a one in 400-year alignment of seven planets next month.

There's also hope a rare comet will burn brightly enough to be seen.

"That particular comet, I think it has an orbital period of 160,000 years. So, it's what we call a long period comet. It takes a very long time to get around the sun," Aoraki said.

Experts say the best time to start the search is about an hour after sunset.