Hey folks!

Tonight if you’re in Mumbai or London, then the night sky will look a little brighter than usual, with several ‘lights’ lined up along the same arc across the sky. They’re not stars, believe me.

They’re the planets of our solar system!

Astronomers call this a planetary parade, and it is very much like one. Imagine six of your friends all somehow ending up on the same street corner at the same time, without planning it. That's roughly what happened and will continue to happen in our night sky.

Six planets from our solar system: Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune have all lined up in a graceful arc across the horizon. This parade is a period when multiple planets become visible in the night sky at roughly the same time, appearing strung along an invisible curve.

The twist here is that the planets aren’t actually forming a neat cosmic queue in space. It only looks that way from Earth.

Every major planet in our solar system, including Earth, orbits the Sun in a flat plane. You can picture it as a cosmic vinyl record, with the Sun at the centre. The grooves of the record are the paths of the planets, nearly level with one another.

That shared orbital plane is called the ecliptic. Because we’re seeing this from Earth on the same plane, the planets always appear somewhere along this curved line across our sky. Most of the time they’re scattered across different parts of it. But occasionally, several of them happen to be on the same side of the Sun at once.

What makes planetary parades uncommon is that each planet moves at a very different speed. Mercury races around the Sun in just 88 Earth days, Earth takes a year, Jupiter needs 12 years, and Saturn nearly 30. Because of these wildly different orbital periods, the planets are usually scattered across different parts of their orbits. For several of them to appear together in our sky, they must happen to be on roughly the same side of the Sun at the same time. Even then, visibility isn’t guaranteed. Some may be too close to the Sun’s glare, some may rise only during daylight hours, and others may sit too low on the horizon to be seen. For a true planetary parade to occur, orbital position, Earth’s rotation, and darkness must all coincide.

When that happens, we can see multiple planets together shortly after sunset or before sunrise. And there you have it folks. That’s your planetary parade.

Here’s a soundtrack to put you in the mood…

Parey by Samar Mehdi

Thank you, Arushi Jain, for this ethereal rec. And if you’d like your recommendation featured too, send them our way, especially hidden gems from underrated Indian artists many of us haven’t discovered yet. We can’t wait to hear them!

What caught our eye this week

Are DVDs making a comeback?

Over the last almost two decades, DVD sales have dropped more than 86%. And honestly, that’s not surprising. Who even watches films on DVDs anymore?

But something strange is happening in the world of physical media.

The decline in DVD sales has started slowing down. For context, in both 2023 and 2024, sales were falling by over 20%. In 2025, that drop slowed to about 9%. Now, that obviously does not mean that DVDs are booming again. But it does tell you that someone, somewhere, is still buying them, and in slightly larger numbers than before.

And guess who’s behind it?

Gen Z.

Yup, the same generation that grew up with everything available at the tap of a screen and Wi-Fi practically stitched into their DNA. Which makes you ask, “Why would they go backwards?”

One reason seems to be subscription fatigue. Every time a new show grabs your attention, and it’s on a different platform, you have to add another subscription if you don’t already have it. And before you know it, you’re juggling three, four, maybe five services — some of which you barely use.

DVDs, oddly enough, simplify things. You buy it once and own it forever.

Which brings us to the second point — ownership. On streaming platforms, a film can disappear overnight because licences expire or deals change. One day it’s there. The next day it’s gone. But if you own a DVD, it’s yours. You can just slide it into a player and watch. There’s something comforting about that control.

And then there’s the fact that some Gen Z adults are tired of constantly being online. So, they’re leaning into activities that feel more intentional and social. Visiting a store that still sells physical media. Chatting about what they picked up. Swapping recommendations and even exchanging or lending DVDs. It’s quite a fascinating way to bond and not very different from how some bibliophiles still prefer buying physical books even when e-books exist.

So in a strange way, DVDs seem to be following the vinyl playbook. Vinyl records became “vintage”, and millennials revived them because they felt nostalgic and cool. In fact, vinyl sales have actually surpassed DVD sales since 2023, probably because of a simple fact that they carry charm.

Which makes you wonder, could DVD sales soon start growing again, even if it’s just by a few single digits? Not enough to compete with streaming, of course. But maybe enough to carve out a little cultural niche again.

So tell us — do you think DVDs are a cool idea?

Infographic

Twenty years. One massive shift.

In 2005, the global leaderboard looked unrecognizable, with China just finding its footing and India sitting at the bottom of the top ten. Today, the map has been redrawn.

Readers Recommend

This week, our reader Sreesha GS recommends reading Manifest: 7 Steps to Living Your Best Life by Roxie Nafousi.

It explains how to use manifestation to create the life you want. In an era of digital noise and constant distractions, this book provides the mental clarity needed to tune out conflicting opinions and short-form content.

Thanks for the recommendation, Sreesha!

That’s it from us this week. We’ll see you next Sunday!

Until then, send us your book, music, business movies, documentaries or podcast recommendations. We’ll feature them in the newsletter! Also, don’t forget to tell us what you thought of today's edition. Just hit reply to this email (or if you’re reading this on the web, drop us a message at morning@finshots.in).

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