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

Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars will appear to line up and be bright enough to see with the naked eye in the first few hours after dark. This weekend, Venus and Saturn get especially cozy.

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

Mars will seem to disappear behind the full wolf moon Monday for many sky-gazers. Throughout January, also look up to see Venus, Saturn and Jupiter in the night sky.

Venus and Saturn will appear extraordinarily close together in the night sky overnight on Jan. 17 during a celestial event known as a conjunction.

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.

Six planets will all be visible at once in the night sky this month, lined up across the sky—but one is set to disappear from view.

Venus is brighter than Mars because of its thick, reflective cloud cover, which bounces a large amount of sunlight back towards Earth. But Mars can still be spotted with the naked eye without the need for any scientific equipment.

Venus with Mars makes the subject lascivious. Venus with Jupiter in the 9th Bhava confers great prosperity. Venus with Mercury in

Although it will look its best and brightest for years to come, Mars will be dwarfed by Venus in pure brightness terms by late January. Between Jan. 28 and Feb. 27, Venus will swing close to Earth and be as bright as it ever gets in the evening sky ...

Mars will vanish behind January's full Wolf Moon tonight during an occultation event visible across North America.

Alignments of five or more planets are rare—there will be two more featuring five or more planets this year, but after that the next won’t happen until 2040.