On these beautiful nights, take the time to be outside after sunset to see a stunning view of Venus and Saturn close to the crescent Moon. If you keep watching the pair over the coming fortnight, you’ll see the planets appear very close to each other on 18th January.
Use the above image as a guide to get you started. Astronomical images provided by SkySafari, a Simulation Curriculum Company, All rights reserved www.simulationcurriculum.com.
When to look: After sunset, 3rd and 4th January
Which direction to look: West
Something Interesting:
Saturn’s rings are enormous — great rings of dust, ice, and rock stretching almost 300,000km from the gas giant — but they’re also surprisingly thin in places. Because of a quirk of how the rings orbit Saturn’s equator, on a tilt with the planet, every few years the rings appear to disappear because from our viewpoint on Earth we’re seeing them edge-on. Then, slowly but surely, over a course of months they come back into view again.
Get more stargazing tips
There’s always something interesting happening in the night sky and country WA is the best place to catch all the action!