If you enjoyed the sight of Venus and the crescent Moon sitting side-by-side in the night sky on 3 January 2025, you'll be pleased to know the Venus show isn't over.
Venus will be bright and visible to the naked eye throughout the rest of January 2025, and on 10 January will begin a slow dance with the planet Saturn in the night sky.
Venus and Saturn's meet-up can be seen in the early evening, in the darkening sky after sunset.
Observing Venus and Saturn this month
Venus is currently bright and visible to the naked eye, shining at mag. –4.3. You can find it this month above the southwest horizon in the early evening, when it looks like a bright 'star' in the twilight sky.
Saturn is dimmer at mag. +0.8 and located in the same part of the sky as Venus in January 2025, just above and to the left of the planet. It won't be as bright as Venus, but it's there!
Venus was joined by a 16%-lit waxing crescent Moon on 3 January, which has made a lot of beginner stargazers eager to know what's next for the planet in the night sky.
A real stargazing treat will be to watch Venus get closer and closer to Saturn in the evening sky throughout the course of the month.
On 10 January, Venus appears 47.2° from the Sun, having reached a position known as greatest eastern elongation.
This means that, if you were to look down on our Solar System, you'd find that two imaginary lines drawn from Earth to Venus, then Venus to the Sun, would form a right angle.
Venus appears close to Saturn on 10 January, the two planets separated by just 7.5° in the sky.
And they'll get closer together over the week following that date, until 18 January, when Venus and Saturn will be just 2.2 apart.
For reference, this means you could fit just four full Moons between the two planets, as they appear from Earth.
Then, Venus and Saturn will begin to separate night and after night, the celestial tango coming to an end.
Take time to spot Venus and Saturn every night over the next week or so, and watch as the planets get closer together.
Thanks to the Sky at Night's Pete Lawrence for providing Venus, Saturn and Moon data for January 2025.
If you do observe Venus and Saturn over the course of January 2025, or manage to capture any images, be sure to share them with us via contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com.
