Venus continues to draw attention, appearing low in the western sky after sunset. On Sunday night, the thin crescent moon appears nearby. The two are in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, along with two more planets.

There is quite a bit of activity in the western sky this week, if you’ve got the binoculars and the wherewithal. Three planets are visible fairly close together. We’ve already mentioned Venus, the brightest and easiest to spot.

Mars and Mercury appear as a pair, low in the sky, below and to the right of Venus. They are a challenge to see, without both perfect weather observing conditions and an observer with stamina.

Mercury is the brighter and the closer of the two. On Wednesday night, Mercury and Mars are closest together, less than two degrees apart. Their time together is brief. For in the nights that follow, the two planets separate and eventually both disappear, dropping below the horizon.