Venus and Jupiter in double dazzle

Two bright planets, Venus and Jupiter, will come together for a spectacular pairing in the sky this Friday morning. They will lie less than two moon's widths apart when they rise in the early morning sky before dawn. The rare conjunction means that early risers will be able to hide both behind the tip of a finger held at arm's length. Best time to look from the UK and Ireland will be around 7am as the two planets lift above the horizon to the south-east. Venus is the brighter of the two and will lie above Jupiter. Robin Scagell, of the UK's Society for Popular Astronomy, said: "These two planets are both bright and will make a dazzling sight to brighten up a cold winter's morning. "They will be obvious to everyone and you don't need to be a stargazer or have a telescope to enjoy the view!" Look across to the right and you will see the crescent Moon close to Antares, brightest star in Scorpius. On February 4, the Moon will be close to Venus and Jupiter, making an attractive grouping in the sky. Read more about this conjunction from Nasa. The image above, showing the scene at 7.10am from southern England, was produced with the planetarium program Starry Night. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, Skymania.com • Skymania welcomes your comments on our stories! For more space reading, check out the Skymania stores in the USA, the UK, Canada and France. They are powered by Amazon so you can buy with confidence.

Venus and Saturn in close encounter

Two bright planets are closing in for a spectacular rendezvous in the evening sky this weekend. Ringed wonder Saturn and the more brilliant Venus will be just two-thirds of a degree apart - a little more than the width of the Moon - at their closest. Catch the pair in the darkening twilight. You will find them just to the west of the sickle shape that forms the head of the Zodiacal constellation Leo. The sky map here, produced with Starry Night Pro, shows the grouping from mid-northern latitudes at 21.25 UT on June 30. Saturn will lie just to the upper left of Venus, as seen in northern skies. If you have a short-focus telescope that gives a wide-angle view at low powers, you might be able to see Saturn's rings and the crescent phase of Venus in the same field of view. ©PAUL SUTHERLAND, SpaceStories.com