Planetary duo to glow together after sunset this week

This week will bring new stargazing opportunities for people of all ages, even from big cities where light pollution often disrupts views of the heavens, as the crescent moon swings past two planets.

In recent weeks, Venus has been a prominent feature in the evening sky, living up to its nickname as the “evening star,” despite being a planet. The planet is the third brightest natural object in the sky after the sun and the moon, making it easy to find in the night sky.

At the start of the week, Venus will have a visitor as Mars appears incredibly close in an astronomical event known as a conjunction.

Monday, July 12, will bring the first opportunity to see the conjunction with the two planets appearing just a finger’s width apart in the sky. However, Mars will be much dimmer than Venus, making it more difficult to spot without the help of binoculars or a telescope.

A thin crescent moon will also be visible in the western sky above the pair, a celestial trio that will be visible around an hour after sunset, local time.

If clouds obscure the sky on July 12, folks can step outside on July 13 for another opportunity to see the pairing as the planets will remain side-by-side. However, the moon will not be quite as close Tuesday evening when compared to Monday evening.

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Venus will continue to shine bright in the evening sky throughout the balance of the month and into August but will grow farther and farther apart from Mars each night.

Stargazers staying up later in the night can enjoy views of another planetary pair that will get brighter and brighter in the coming weeks.

Saturn and Jupiter are rising in the southeastern sky every evening by 11 p.m. local time, but they will be more spaced out when compared to the conjunction of Venus and Mars.

This is similar to how they appeared last summer, but unlike last year when Jupiter was to the right of Saturn, the roles have been reversed, with Saturn glowing to the right of Jupiter.

Both planets are easy to spot with the unaided eye but are great objects for new stargazers to focus on as they familiarize themselves with a new telescope.

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