This is the last chance to catch the pair in conjunction this year—with Venus set to be unusually bright in the night sky.

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

A remarkable sight will appear in the southwestern sky an hour after sunset Saturday evening when Venus appears very close to a thin crescent moon. This celestial phenomenon is called a conjunction, which means two or more heavenly bodies appear very close to each other.

The new moon of January will be at 7:36 a.m. Eastern Time on Jan. 29, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, and two days later a young moon will pass near Saturn and near Venus as they cluster together in the evening sky.