Make sure you look to the West over the next 4 days, as Venus and Saturn are coming up for a very close conjunction.

Saturn will move to within 40" (two-thirds of a degree) of Venus - a very close pairing, making them visible in the same FOV of most telescopes with a low power, widefield eyepiece.

Seeing 2 planets in the eyepiece at one time is a rare event, so make sure you get out and take a look just after Sunset. Venus is the bright evening star and Saturn will be the fainter star to the right.

Over the next 4 days, Saturn will start above and to the right of Venus, and will slowly move down to a closest approach on the evening of July 1st where they will sit almost side by side. In the days following, Saturn will continue to move down past Venus as it disappears from our skies heading towards superior conjunction (passing behind the Sun from our vantage point on Earth).

I look forward to seeing your high-resolution and widefield images of this spectacular event!

Post your images on the IceInSpace Forum, and your observation reports and discussions can go in this discussion thread.

Attached is a screenshot from Starry Night Pro showing the pair on the evening of July 1st, 6pm AEST.

Click to Enlarge Venus and Saturn Conjunction, 1st July