On Saturday and Sunday evenings, June 30th and July 1st, for observers all around the world, Venus and Saturn will be within 50' of each other. That means that they will fit together comfortably in the field of view of most telescopes at 50x — ample magnification to show both Saturn's magnificent rings and Venus's crescent phase.

The very closest approach (just under 40') occurs at 9:34 Universal Time on July 1st, and is viewable only over the Pacific Ocean. For observers in North America, the planets are slightly closer to each other on Saturday than on Sunday. But Venus and Saturn make a spectacular pair even on Friday and Monday evenings, just a little more than 1° apart.