Watch the king of the planets turn on its throne

Observers in Western Europe with a clear view to the south-southeast at nautical dawn can watch the changing configuration two prominent naked-eye planets over the next few mornings, culminating in a beautiful close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter on 22 January 2019.

On Saturday 27 August at 22:32 UT (11:32pm BST), a spectacularly close conjunction occurs between Jupiter and Venus just 22 degrees west of the Sun in the constellation of Virgo, when the planetary pair are just 4 arcminutes, or one-fifteenth of a degree, apart. Here is our guide to the best locations and times to view this rare event.

Jupiter, the solar system’s largest planet, is now visible low in the southeast three hours after darkness falls in the UK. Now’s the time to dust off your telescope, check its optical alignment and hone your Jovian observing skills – particularly since a series of double shadow transits of the planet’s large Galilean moons starts on 24 March 2018.