The new moon of January will be at 7:36 a.m. Eastern Time on Jan. 29, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and two days later a young moon will pass near Saturn and near Venus as they cluster together in the evening sky.
Venus and Saturn will be in conjunction this weekend, appearing side by side in the night sky during January's post-sunset "planet parade."
Both Venus and Saturn will be in the Aquarius constellation, the water bearer, during their close approach. To help spot it, viewers should look towards the south in the evening sky, using the bright star Fomalhaut in the nearby Piscis Austrinus constellation as a guide to locate Aquarius.
Known as the "Parade of Planets," the celestial event will feature appearances from Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune and Saturn through the end of January, according to Farmer's Almanac. Mercury will emerge in the night sky at the end of February, replacing Saturn.
On the evenings of Jan. 17 and 18, the planets will appear virtually side by side, in what's called a “planetary conjunction.”
“Saturday evening, January 18: Venus and Saturn will appear nearest to each other. As evening twilight ends at 6:15 p.m. EST, Venus will be 30 degrees above the southwestern horizon with Saturn 2.2 degrees to the lower left. Saturn will set first on the western horizon almost 3 hours later at 9:04 p.m.”
Plus: Saturn’s moon Iapetus is visible, our Moon passes the bright star Spica, and Mars skims south of Pollux in Gemini in the sky this week.
In this episode, Dave Eicher invites you to go out and watch a close pairing of two naked-eye planets: Venus and Saturn. The two will be in the southwestern evening sky, and will be closest during the week of January 19.
Baker said that there are other astronomical events that may be more interesting than the parade of planets. Baker said Mars and Jupiter would be best to see through a telescope right now. Mars is the closest it will be to Earth in the last two years, meaning the red planet will appear larger in the night sky.
Saturn’s rings, imaged here by NASA’s Cassini orbiter, are one of the solar system’s most reliably spectacular sights. But sometimes they seem to disappear as seen from Earth.
Explore the cosmic harmony between the seven chakras and celestial bodies like Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, and the Sun. Each chak
HELENA — The planets are aligned. Six planets, Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, Venus and Saturn can be seen in the night sky. You'll need binoculars or a telescope to see Neptune and Uranus but they're out there too.