For five consecutive mornings, beginning on Aug. 17, early risers will be treated to the sight of a “planet parade” in the eastern sky featuring Jupiter, Venus, Mercury and the moon. Uranus and Neptune will also be in the sky but not visible. Best seen about an hour before sunrise, the highlight will be on Wednesday, Aug. 20, when a slender crescent moon will shine very close to a brilliant Venus.
From Aug. 17–21, a spectacular “planet parade” (also called an alignment) features the moon and six planets.
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Key Facts
Venus and Jupiter will shine close to each other above due east, with Mercury becoming visible beneath them closer to sunrise.
Saturn is high in the south, with Neptune just above. Uranus is high in the southeast, but like Neptune, requires a telescope to see. You don’t need anything but your naked eyes to see this “planet parade.”
Joining the “planet parade” all week is a waning crescent moon, which will get slimmer on each successive morning and pass close to the Venus, Jupiter and Mercury later in the week.
Mars is the solitary planet left in the evening sky, so isn’t part of this “planet parade.”
Sunday, August 17: A ‘Planet Parade’
Stellarium
This Week’s ‘planet Parade’ Schedule
Here’s what to expect this week as the “planet parade” peaks:
Sunday, Aug. 17: a 36%-lit crescent moon will shine high above Jupiter, Venus and a low-lying Mercury, with Saturn high in the south.
Monday, Aug. 18: the crescent moon slims to 26%-lit, drawing nearer to the planets and glowing with Earthshine — sunlight reflected from Earth onto the lunar surface.
Tuesday, Aug. 19: Mercury will be at its highest in the morning sky as the moon wanes to 16%-lit and forms a curve with Venus and Jupiter.
Wednesday, Aug. 20: a now 9%-lit crescent moon will appear right next to Venus, with Mercury below and Jupiter above.
Thursday, Aug. 21: although it will be tricky to see, a slender 4% moon will be positioned just above the horizon, near Jupiter and Venus, and close to Mercury and the Beehive Cluster of stars.
Surprising Fact
You’ll hear the erroneous term “planetary alignment” used to describe this event, along with advice about seeing six planets despite only four being visible to the naked eye. Stargazers prefer “planet parade.” That’s because the planets aren’t aligned in space — they just appear that way from our vantage point on Earth. The planets are spread out, as they always are, along the ecliptic — the plane of the solar system. If you think of the solar system as a fried egg, with the sun at the center, the planets (including Earth) orbit in a circle around it. If planets were truly aligned, they would all appear as a single point of light as seen from Earth. Alignment in astronomy typically refers to syzygy, such as an eclipse, which does not apply here.
Big Numbers
Though these planets appear close in the sky, they’re separated by staggering distances. Venus is around 118 million miles (190 million kilometers) from Earth this week, while Jupiter is almost five times farther at 548 million miles (882 million kilometers), with distant Saturn 888 million miles (1,430 million kilometers). Mercury, the closest, is about 80 million miles (128 million kilometers) away. A “planet parade” is purely a line-of-sight phenomenon.
NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope took this image of Saturn on 22 Sept. 2022.
SCIENCE: NASA, ESA, Amy Simon (NASA-GSFC) IMAGE PROCESSING: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
What’s Next In The Night Sky
The “planet parade” will come to an end around Aug. 21 when Mercury slips into the sun’s glare, leaving only Saturn, Venus and Jupiter on show. However, it will be worth taking a look early on Aug. 31, when Venus will meet the Beehive Cluster in the early morning twilight. The next sky highlight — particularly for those with a backyard telescope — is Saturn at opposition on Sept. 21, 2025. With Earth between Saturn and the sun, the ringed planet will appear at its largest, brightest, and best in 2025, visible from dusk through dawn.
Further Reading
Forbes‘Planet Parade’ Myths Debunked And How To Truly See It — By A StargazerBy Jamie CarterForbesYour Ultimate Guide To Meteor Showers And The Perseids — By An ExpertBy Jamie CarterForbesNASA Urges Public To Leave The City As Milky Way Appears — 15 Places To GoBy Jamie Carter
She received an Oscar nomination for “The Color Purple” in 2024 — her performance as Sofia also earned her a Grammy for best musical theater album — but Brooks has arguably had an even better 2025. So far this year, she has starred in the nearly billion-dollar-grossing blockbuster hit “A Minecraft Movie” and voiced a villainous snow leopard in “The Bad Guys 2.” Now, along with co-star John Cena, Brooks is headed back into the DC Universe for Season 2 of HBO Max’s “Peacemaker.”
Fresh off shepherding a brand new vision for the DCU with David Corenswet’s guileless take on “Superman,” James Gunn has devised this season of “Peacemaker,” premiering Aug. 21, as a way to bridge what’s come before with what’s ahead. If there’s a theme to the latest adventure of this goofy, earnest and foul-mouthed superhero it’s that there is no running away from one’s choices — for better and for worse.
The titular antihero-turned-superhero is joined on his journey by Leota Adebayo (Brooks), as perfect a hype friend as Cena’s Peacemaker could have dreamed of finding. Other famed metahumans may make fun of his disco ball of a helmet and he may struggle with how best to turn his reputation around, but Adebayo is firm in her belief in the goodness of her often-bumbling muscled friend.
Days before heading down to San Diego for her first Comic-Con, Brooks sat down to chat and take stock of her journey into a world she once knew very little about.
“I grew up in a very reserved home. And so we weren’t exposed to a lot of things. I didn’t have an older brother or a cousin. Nobody was handing me comic books — somebody was handing me a Bible or a sheet of music to sing,” she explains with a smile.
But that wasn’t the only thing that made this DCU project daunting when it first came her way.
Peacemaker (John Cena) and Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks) in Season 2 of HBO Max’s “Peacemaker.”
(Curtis Bonds Baker/HBO Max)
“When I came across Adebayo, I just had my daughter, and we were in a pandemic,” she says. “I had just gained like 60 pounds from my pregnancy. And then I get a call from James Gunn saying, ‘Hey, you want to be in this action TV show?’ And I’m like, ‘What? I’m in the worst shape of my life. Yes, I can still act, but can I run?’”
Gunn had seen Brooks in “Orange Is the New Black” and had been impressed with her soulful and funny breakthrough performance as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson, one of the inmates in Jenji Kohan’s long-running Netflix hit.
“The depth was incredible,” he says in an email. “I thought it was an opportunity to put someone unique at the center of a ‘superhero’ show.”
Like many of the characters in Gunn’s off-kilter series that is a spinoff of 2021’s “The Suicide Squad,” Adebayo first arrived in Peacemaker’s life struggling with who she was and what she could stand for. Overshadowed by the towering reputation of her mother — Viola Davis’ no-nonsense Amanda Waller — the fresh-faced A.R.G.U.S. recruit initially couldn’t shake off the insecurity that followed her every move.
“When you first meet Adebayo in Season 1, she’s so flustered,” Brooks explains. “She’s so all over the place. She can’t find her footing for anything. She’s stumbling over her words. She won’t even shoot anyone.”
Adebayo’s journey mirrors Brooks’ own. The actor initially approached this project with trepidation similar to her character.
“I came in with a lot of fear,” she says. “Can I give him [Gunn] what he needs?” She knew Gunn trusted her gifts, and her desire to deliver a strong performance eventually helped drive her character work.
“I came in with a lot of fear,” says Danielle Brooks about joining the DC Universe series “Peacemaker” after James Gunn cast her. “Can I give him what he needs?”
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“That’s a part of what I love about what we do,” she says about acting. “It challenges you to be your best in every aspect — mentally, spiritually, physically. And so I was really excited to take on that challenge.”
Just as Adebayo found her place within the 11th Street Kids — which include Peacemaker, Vigilante (Freddie Stroma), Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee) — Brooks blossomed amid this tight-knit motley crew.
“She’s such a big personality,” Gunn says. “And this team in particular more so than any is a real family. It wouldn’t be the same without Danielle’s big laugh and her big heart.”
That big heart has shaped Adebayo into a grounding presence for those around her.
“That has become her superpower,” Brooks says, “helping ground this group and saying, ‘Hey, we can do this!’ That’s where we meet her in Season 2. She’s so optimistic. They’re all ‘lost in the sauce’ is the best way I know how to describe it. They’re trying to find their footing when it comes to their relationships, their personal lives, their jobs — everybody’s all over the place. But she’s the one person that’s like, ‘No, we’re gonna figure this out.’”
Though “Peacemaker” relishes raunchy punchlines and gag-inducing gags — the show features aliens, bar brawls, orgies and Eagly, a prickly pet eagle — it has been an acting showcase for its lead cast.
Danielle Brooks on Leota Adebayo’s optimism: “That has become her superpower, helping ground this group and saying, ‘Hey, we can do this!’”
(Jessica Miglio / HBO Max)
Brooks is excited for fans to see what Cena gets to do this time around. (“I feel like he leveled up this season,” she says.) But Gunn says it’s Adebayo’s arc that’ll blow viewers away in this multiverse-focused second season.
“This whole cast is capable of so much more depth than I gave them first season,” he says. “And Danielle’s work in the Season 2 finale is some of the best acting work I’ve ever been a part of.”
That compliment may have quelled the initial fears Brooks had when she was preparing to revisit the character.
“With Season 2, it took me a little second to get back in the rhythm,” she says. “I also had the pressure now of being Oscar nominated. Like, ‘Oh man, this is the next thing you’re doing after your nomination? Are you really that talented? Do you got it?’”
She knew better than to give in to such intrusive thoughts. But it highlighted a new set of challenges she’s facing as she begins shaping the next chapter in her career.
“You do get a confidence boost of, I do belong here,” she says. “I definitely feel that. Because when I think of the actors that are nominated, they are the best in the game. So it’s helped me to stand firm: I’m not going anywhere in this industry. I’m going to have longevity. And I knew that without a nomination.”
That latter sentiment was what Brooks chose to highlight earlier this year with her fans and colleagues alike on Tony nomination day. The actor, who is a Tony nominee for the 2016 Broadway run of “The Color Purple,” shared a video to social media directed at those who might have felt they had little to celebrate.
It included footage of Brooks in 2023 learning she’d missed out on a nomination for her work on “The Piano Lesson” and then a warmhearted pep talk where she shared what she had taken away from that experience: “Let this light a fire to continue to bring good work where it’s just undeniable,” she says. “And not just for the awards, but for yourself and the goals that you have in life.”
It was a simple message born out of a desire to shine a light on how metrics for success within the industry can leave actors with a warped sense of their own value.
“That was a really hard time,” she admits. “And it wasn’t only because I didn’t get Tony nominated. That stung, but it wasn’t the only reason. It was a point in my life that I was like, ‘Why am I doing this?’ I was starting to not be happy in the thing that I love so much. And if I feel that way, I don’t know if it’s worth it, you know?”
That moment she captured on camera was a deflating disappointment. But it was also followed by a loving gesture: In the video, her husband Dennis Gelin appears from behind and gives her a kiss on the top of her head. Even as she processed her professional loss, Brooks was being taken care of by those who love her.
“I think a lot of times we hype up everybody when they’re on that mountain,” she says. It’s easy to celebrate fellow artists when they are doing well or appear to be — when they seem to be “riding in the sun,” as she puts it.
Danielle Brooks, who stars in the HBO Max series “Peacemaker” Season 2 in Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, July 24, 2025.
(Bexx Francois / For The Times)
“You know, like when they’ve got their sunglasses on and they’re in motorcycles and it looks like they’ve got bags of money hanging out,” she jokes. “That’s when we celebrate and we put all those hearts and those likes on them.
“But what about when you are not there? When you’re just feeling like you’re sinking in the mud and you’re reaching out, and nobody’s there to hold your hand?” she adds. “That’s what I wanted for the people that weren’t nominated that day: to know that there is a hand on the other side to shake and say, ‘You still are incredible. You still deserve the world.’”
They’re the kind of words that sum up the warmth and ebullience Brooks has infused into characters like Taystee in “Orange,” Sofia in “The Color Purple” and now Leota Adebayo. These women orbit around the idea that you should take on the world not with a closed fist but with an open heart.
As we wrap up our conversation, a woman approaches Brooks in hopes of introducing her little girls to the actor. Brooks beams their way and giddily poses with them for pictures. While her role in “Minecraft” may still be top of mind for most people, the excitement of seeing Brooks on a random morning at a Beverly Hills hotel had more to do with an unlikely project of hers: Netflix’s renovation show, “Instant Dream Home.”
It’s another example of how Brooks’ appeal and interests continue to set her on a path where every new project introduces her to wildly different audiences. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Life’s too short,” she says. “I want to know all of the gifts that have been given to me. I’ve always wanted to shape my career that way where you just touch everybody, just different people who have different walks of life than you. That is the most powerful thing you could ever do.”
Researchers have demonstrated a lightweight disc-like device that can float in the mesosphere, a part of the atmosphere between 30 and 60 miles above Earth’s surface.
The proof-of-concept device was designed by a team from Harvard’s John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The mesosphere has long been a scientific blind spot. It is difficult to research with existing technology as it’s beyond the reach of planes and balloons, but below the orbit of satellites.
Better knowledge of this atmospheric layer could lead to more accurate weather forecasts and climate models.
The team thinks these sunlight-powered devices could reach this hard-to-access area to collect sensing data.
“It opens up an entirely new class of device: one that’s passive, sunlight-powered, and uniquely suited to explore our upper atmosphere. Later, they might fly on Mars or other planets,” said David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago, who was part of the development.
Time-lapse photos of a real structure flying when illuminated. Credit: Ben Schafer, Jong-hyoung Kim, and Gyeong-Seok Hwang.
Nano-fabrication to create nanoscale device
The initial concept for the levitating devices reportedly dates back to 1873.
Recent advances in nanofabrication technology have allowed the team to create the necessary lightweight, nanoscale devices with high precision.
The new device levitates using photophoresis, a sunlight-driven propulsion.
“We are studying this strange physics mechanism called photophoresis and its ability to levitate very lightweight objects when you shine light on them,” said Ben Schafer, lead author of the paper.
This is a physical effect where light causes a force to be exerted on an object. In the low-pressure conditions of the mesosphere, gas molecules bounce off the warm side of an object with more force than they do off the cool side. This creates a continuous momentum that acts as a lifting force.
Typically, the photophoretic force is too weak to be noticeable. However, the new device is so small and lightweight that this force is strong enough to overcome its weight, allowing it to levitate.
The researchers have developed a nanofabrication process to create resilient, centimeter-scale devices.
The device uses small, thin membranes of ceramic alumina and a bottom chromium layer for sunlight absorption.
Low-pressure chamber testing
A low-pressure chamber was built to simulate the conditions of the mesosphere and demonstrate how the device works.
The results were compared to predictions of how the devices would perform in the upper atmosphere.
In an experiment, a 1-centimeter-wide structure was shown to levitate at an air pressure of 26.7 Pascals—a condition found 60 kilometers above Earth—when exposed to light (LED and laser) at only 55% of sunlight’s intensity.
“This is the first time anyone has shown that you can build larger photophoretic structures and actually make them fly in the atmosphere,” noted Keith.
The new device has several potential applications, particularly in climate science, where it could carry sensors to collect data on wind speed, pressure, and temperature from the mesosphere.
In addition, the technology could be used for telecommunications, with a fleet of devices creating a floating antenna array for defense and emergency response. It could also be adapted for planetary exploration on Mars.
The researchers are now working on integrating communication payloads to allow the devices to transmit data in real-time.
If successful, the photophoresis-powered device would be an inherently sustainable flight mechanism since it requires no fuel, batteries, or photovoltaics.
The findings were published in the journal Nature.
Vicky Pattison has been announced as the eleventh celebrity to join the new series of Strictly Come Dancing. The multi-award-winning entertainment show, produced by BBC Studios, will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer for its new series this September.
Vicky Pattison is a TV presenter, author, podcast and radio host who won the nation’s heart after being crowned Queen of the Jungle on I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2015. Since then, she’s remained a firm fixture on British screens, with presenting roles across MTV, ITV, Channel 5, Channel 4 and TLC.
Her critically acclaimed Channel 4 documentary Vicky Pattison: Alcohol, Dad and Me cemented her as a compelling and authentic voice in the conversation around alcohol addiction and mental health. Vicky has also been a Celebrity MasterChef finalist, appeared on Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, and featured in BBC’s Sport Relief: All Star Games and was seen raising money in BBC’s Arctic Challenge for Comic Relief last year.
Off-screen, Vicky has authored multiple Sunday Times best-selling memoirs and novels – with Nothing But the Truth reaching number one and remained in the top ten for seven weeks – built a loyal online community of over five million followers and is a passionate campaigner for women’s health and emotional wellbeing, with a recent investigation into women’s reproductive health in collaboration with Good Morning Britain. She currently presents the Saturday afternoon show on Heart Radio and hosts two hit podcasts: Get A Grip with Angela Scanlon and BBC Sounds Love Bombed.
On joining Strictly Come Dancing, Vicky Pattison says: “I’m absolutely buzzing to be part of this year’s Strictly Come Dancing lineup… but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t terrified. I am a not a natural dancer! However, it’s such an amazing opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone and to challenge myself in a completely new way and I just really hope I don’t make too much of a fool of myself!”
The news was revealed on This Morning on Thursday 14 August and the remaining celebrity contestants joining the new series will be announced in due course.
Strictly Come Dancing is a BBC Studios Entertainment production for BBC One and BBC iPlayer and was commissioned by Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC. The Executive Producer is Sarah James, the Series Editors are Nicola Fitzgerald and Jack Gledhill. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Jo Wallace.
Strictly Come Dancing will return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this autumn. Add Strictly to your watchlist on BBC iPlayer now.
Mercedes have praised Kimi Antonelli for the progress he has made during his rookie F1 season so far, believing the teenager is now “finding his feet more quickly” at race weekends after approaching early rounds “with a degree of caution”.
Antonelli climbed from F4 to F1 in just over three years with his 2025 promotion to a race seat at the Silver Arrows, where he has been competing alongside experienced, multiple Grand Prix-winner George Russell.
While the 18-year-old Italian made an instant impression via a brilliant charge from 16th to fourth at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, he found himself battling to get up to speed at several events that followed.
Then, dotted around a spell of incidents and retirements, came two breakthrough results – Antonelli storming to a maiden pole position during Sprint Qualifying in Miami and scoring his first F1 podium in Canada.
Following that podium finish, Antonelli admitted that he had potentially “overreacted” to his dramatic Free Practice debut crash at last year’s Italian Grand Prix and was “a bit too safe” in his approach moving forward.
Assessing Antonelli’s start to life in F1 shortly before the summer break, Mercedes Technical Director James Allison shared that theory, while highlighting how the team have been trying to help build his overall confidence.
“We talk about this a bit internally, and it may just be more gossip than reality, but the trip into the barrier at Monza, I think that may have just left him approaching the weekends with a degree of caution as a result,” Allison told select media, including F1.com.
“We’ve been encouraging him to sort of trust [his] talent: ‘You can lean into that more than you think you can’. As he gets the confidence to do that, he’s finding his feet more quickly during the weekend.”
As it stands, Antonelli sits seventh in the Drivers’ Championship on 64 points, while the aforementioned Russell holds fourth on 172 – the Briton having scored a race win and five further podiums this year.
Given Russell’s speed and knowledge, with the 27-year-old making his F1 debut back in 2019 and being a long-time member of the Mercedes family, Allison described the situation as “a brilliant apprenticeship” for Antonelli.
“George has barely put a foot wrong,” Allison said of Russell’s season. “He’s been on the money in Qualifying. Where we’ve given him a car that he’s able to work with, he’s done everything we could have hoped [for] with it, so bravo to him.
“That’s obviously giving Kimi a very high standard to shoot for. I’m pleased with the fact that Kimi, generally speaking this year, has been able to get close to George as the weekend’s gone on. As the year’s gone on, perhaps you could say he gets in the groove a bit swifter.
“But George is setting a very, very high bar. It’s a brilliant apprenticeship for Kimi to have someone as swift as George to shoot for.”
Antonelli’s quest for progress has also been boosted by Mercedes reverting to an older specification of suspension following their failed mid-season switch – the youngster returning to the points in Hungary and declaring that he was “getting the confidence back”.
Sanam Saeed is one of the most graceful and talented artists of Pakistan. She has always won hearts for her strong roles and the way she beautifully portrays herself on the screen. The diva has just entered a new phase in her life as she gave birth to her first child while she also made her television comeback as Miss Maria in Main Manto Nahi Hoon. She got an unwarranted comment and now she is hitting back.
Parveen Akbar is a veteran star. She was on Mathira’s show and shared her opinion on Sanam Saeed. She said Sanam Saeed looks more like a boy and less like a girl to her.
This is what she said:
Sanam Saeed has made a reply in the most subtle way. She shared an Instagram story about Anytypreneur, an aunty who gets into your business. Netizens were quick to point out that this was directed towards Parveen Akbar:
The internet has enjoyed the clapback. One user said, “Parveen Akbar has left the chat.” Another added, “Sanam is definitely a beauty with brains. What a reply.” One said: “She is so graceful and calm. I don’t know why aunty was after her.” This is what was the reaction:
Sixteen-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus is poised to make history as the youngest American ever to compete at the World Athletics Championships when the global event heads to Tokyo next month (13 September).
The rising high school student from Justin, Texas, booked his spot by finishing second in the men’s 800m at the US Championships in Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday 3 August, clocking a blistering 1:42.27 behind winner Donovan Brazier.
What made his performance truly remarkable was the way it unfolded. Sitting in seventh place with just 200 metres remaining, Lutkenhaus unleashed a ferocious finishing kick, surging past a field stacked with seasoned professionals.
His time not only booked him a prestigious place in Tokyo, it also obliterated the previous U18 world best, set by Kenya’s Timothy Kitum at the London 2012 Olympics, by a staggering 1.1 seconds.
The mark now stands as the fourth-fastest ever run by an American man and the 18th-fastest in world history. Remarkably, less than a year ago, that time would have been good enough to claim the American record outright, evidence to just how extraordinary his run in Eugene truly was.
But who is the American teenager turning heads in the track world? Here are top facts to know about Cooper Lutkenhaus.
