Venus and Saturn will perform a dazzling show in the night sky this weekend, shining next to each other during a close conjunction. The planets will appear close on both Saturday and Sunday evenings.
Venus and Saturn will be in conjunction this weekend, appearing side by side in the night sky during ... [+]
Easily visible to the naked eye above the southwestern horizon after sunset, the conjunction is the highlight of January’s “planet parade,” during which four bright planets—and a sudden comet—are visible each evening.
Venus and Saturn will appear closest to each other on Saturday, when they will be separated by just 2.1 degrees in the constellation Aquarius, according to In-The-Sky.org. That’s about the width of an index finger held at arm’s length.
The best time to look will be from around 45 minutes after sunset where you are. Venus and Saturn will set less than four hours after sunset, cutting the observing window short.
Although the two planets will both be easy to see, there will be a massive contrast in their brightness, with Venus shining 110 times brighter than Saturn.
Jupiter and Mars will also be visible in the night sky. Rising in the east, Jupiter can be seen high in the sky in the constellation Taurus with golden-looking Mars below in Cancer. Both will rise higher as darkness sets in and be visible all night.
The conjunction is an illusion. On Saturday, Venus and Saturn will be separated by 875 million miles — about eight times the distance between Venus and Earth.
Although no equipment is required to see the conjunction, a pair of binoculars or a small telescope will reveal Venus to be a crescent. Since they are inner planets as seen from Earth, Venus and Mercury appear to us to wax and wane in illumination. Venus is currently shrinking to a crescent as it gets closer to Earth.
The following planetary highlight after the Venus-Saturn conjunction is the sight of Venus beside a waxing crescent moon after sunset on Feb. 1. Saturn will be seen below Venus.
This weekend’s Venus-Saturn conjunction is arguably the highlight of the current planet-watching season. The appearance in the night sky of Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars—as well as Uranus and Neptune (which are too faint to see)—is being mistakenly promoted on social media as a “once in 396 billion years” rare planetary alignment, specifically on Jan. 21. Since all planets orbit the sun on the same plane — called the ecliptic — planets are always aligned.
Whether planets are visible or not depends on our changing perspective. As Earth orbits the sun, planets move in and out of the sun’s glare from our point of view. It just so happens that the bright planets are currently visible from the night side of Earth.
Venus is currently in its “Evening Star” apparition, approaching Earth during its shorter 225-day orbit of the sun. Its speed and proximity to Earth are causing it to brighten and grow in apparent size as it moves closer while simultaneously becoming a crescent. It will get closest to Earth on Feb. 19, reaching a brilliant magnitude of -4.9 despite being just 13%-lit. As it passes Earth, Venus will rapidly sink out of the post-sunset sky and cross into the sun’s glare on Mar. 22. It will then emerge as a bright “Morning Star” before sunrise.
Only a small telescope will reveal Saturn’s rings, but 2025 is not the best year to look at them. Since Saturn rotates on an axis tilted by 27 degrees, its tilt occasionally causes its rings to align with the line of sight from Earth. That's what's happening on Mar. 23, when the rings will be edge-on to Earth. However, Saturn will by then be lost in the sun’s glare. By the time it’s brightest in the sky — during its opposition on Sept. 21 — the rings will again be partly visible.