The two brightest planets appear as a tight pair low in the southwestern sky for the coming week. Venus, the brighter of the two, appears right next to Jupiter. You can’t miss it if you are looking west about an hour after sunset. Those who have an unobstructed view of the horizon have the best view and will see them.

The two are a spectacle in the glow of twilight. Though close, their distance apart is staggering. Venus is 139 million miles away, while Jupiter is 585 million miles away.

The juxtaposition of these two distinctly different planets speaks loudly of our solar system’s simple design. Our solar system with its many sized planets circling the sun are all on one plane.

No matter how far apart and different they are, from time to time they line up nicely close together. This weekend, Jupiter and Venus are less than one degree apart.

The last quarter moon appears late Friday night in the zodiacal constellation Taurus, a constellation we associate with winter.