Seven planets are putting on a parade in the night sky, and they're expected to be visible Friday night over the greater New York City area. 

The parade started with just four planets last month, but now three others have joined in for an even better view. 

What is the parade of planets?

It's considered a parade because the seven planets are marching along the same path. Jackie Faherty, astrophysicist and science educator at the American Museum of Natural History, explains it's more of a "gathering" than "alignment." 

"If you were to take your finger and point at any given planet, it's not like they all fall on a straight line," she told CBS News New York, adding, "All the planets go around the sun, like on a racetrack, they just run around the racetrack. And right now, they're all on the same track, so that you can see them at night."

"They do appear across the sky in kind of a line, an arch, that runs across the sky, because you're seeing the racetrack that they're on as they go around the sun," she continued.   

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be the most visible, while Uranus and Neptune will be more difficult.   

"You can't see all of them with your naked eye, no matter what. Uranus and Neptune are outside of the realm of your eyes -- unless you have crazy amazing eyes, then maybe you can see Uranus, but you'd also have to be in a really dark sky for that," said Faherty. "But Venus, Mars and Jupiter are the ones that are going to strike you. You're going to just see them, that's not going to be a question."

"As soon as the sun sets, you're going to see Venus, it's going to be the next thing that pops to your eye," she added. "Then, you're going to see Jupiter and Mars, and that's going to help you see the line, it's going to help you identify the racetrack."

"Once you've got those, you need to look for Mercury and Saturn right at sunset, if you want to play this 'planet bingo' to get all of them," she continued.

What time will the planets line up?

The best chance to see all seven planets will be around sunset. However, despite a mostly sunny day, high level clouds will start to increase from west to east around them.

Areas south and east of the city, like Suffolk County on Long Island, will have the best view.

For people in the city, Faherty recommends going somewhere with an unobstructed view of the water. For others in the suburbs, find a clear view of the western sky. 

"They're going to be low on the horizon when the sun is setting. So you have to see to the west," she explained. "The key is see where the sun is setting, and that's going to tell you where to look, that's your bullseye."

Faherty said planetary gatherings like this happen every few years and they're not that rare. Our next one should be in October 2028. 

In the meantime, stargazers are getting ready for a total lunar eclipse coming up in a few weeks around March 13 and 14.