The Moon and Saturn Will Form a Striking Conjunction Tonight—Don't Miss It

Skywatchers are in for a stunning celestial show tomorrow night, as the crescent moon aligns with Saturn in the sky.

The Saturn-moon conjunction will be visible after sunset on January 23 and before sunrise on January 24. According to NASA, a conjunction occurs when objects in the sky look close together even though they're actually far apart.

Planetary conjunctions happen because the planets in our solar system orbit the sun in roughly the same plane, according to the Planetary Society. As they move along their orbits at different speeds, their apparent positions in the sky change. When two plants (or, in this case, a planet and the moon) appear close together along this plane from our viewpoint on Earth, we witness a conjunction.

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To spot the pair, look to the west and you'll see Saturn just below the moon, sparkling in the night sky. The moon will appear about six degrees beneath Saturn from our perspective on Earth—roughly the width of three fingers held at arm’s length.

On January 23, the waxing crescent moon will be about 23 percent illuminated. This means a small sliver of the moon is visible to us from Earth, while the illuminated half of the moon faces mostly away from our planet, according to NASA.

This conjunction is one of the last times you'll be able to see Saturn—the second-largest planet in our solar system—before it begins moving closer to the sun.