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.

Both Venus and Saturn will be in the Aquarius constellation, the water bearer, during their close approach. To help spot it, viewers should look towards the south in the evening sky, using the bright star Fomalhaut in the nearby Piscis Austrinus constellation as a guide to locate Aquarius.

On Jan. 4, Saturn briefly hid behind the crescent moon, escaping the view of skywatchers in Europe, Africa, western Russia and eastern Greenland in an event known as a lunar occultation. Astronomer Gianluca Masi shared a composite photo taken during the event using the Virtual Telescope Project in Manciano, Italy.

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

The alignment of six planets - Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune - will be visible through to mid-February, with peak visibility around January 29, coinciding with the new moon.

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

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.

All month, four planets — 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, according to NASA.

Heads up! Four planets are visible in the evening sky this month, and another two planets can be found with a little help. Dress warmly and look up this month.

Planetary alignments aren't rare, but they can be when they involve six of the eight planets in our solar system.