Venus and Saturn will be in conjunction this weekend, appearing side by side in the night sky during January's post-sunset "planet parade."

In the depth of winter, a sweeping view of our solar system will glow in the night sky. In total six planets will be visible, four of them to the naked eye - Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. VIDEO ABOVE: 2024 solar eclipse: How it looked in Erie,

“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.”

There are six planets in the night sky all week, four of them visible to the naked eye and two of them getting very close indeed. Here's how to watch.

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.

To kick off the beginning of the weekend, catch Venus and Saturn meeting as a conjunction on the night of Jan. 17. A telescope is not required to view this astronomy event.

I pick out North America’s celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the northern hemisphere).

All seven of the other planets in our solar system are about to become visible at once in a great planetary alignment – here’s how to spot the celestial show

A similar parade of planets took place last June, but only two planets could be seen without any special equipment. This time, four are visible to the naked eye.

Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars are all visible after sunset, but social media claims about it being a rare "planetary alignment" are not correct. Here's how to see it.