Jupiter, Saturn & the Moon Will Form a Small Triangle in the Sky This Week

The trio will be easily visible in the night sky this week.

jupiter saturn moon triangle
Venus (left) and Jupiter (right) shine over a lake in southern Alberta. | Alan Dyer /VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Venus (left) and Jupiter (right) shine over a lake in southern Alberta. | Alan Dyer /VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

The gaseous duo of Saturn and Jupiter have been trailing each other across the night sky since before last winter's great conjunction. They're sticking together, but about once a month, you'll see the moon come close to the solar system's two largest planets. (At least, they'll come together from our perspective here on Earth.) 

You'll be able to see the trio on nights from October 13 through October 15, with the best night landing right in the middle, as noted by Space.com. Jupiter and Saturn remain relatively close, but there's still a bit of distance between them compared to December's great conjunction when the pair were almost on top of each other.  

The first night, the moon will be more in the neighborhood than right on top of them. It'll sit just to the right of Saturn, which is itself to the right of Jupiter. The nights of October 14 and 15 will have them all a little closer together, forming a small triangle in the sky. (And, yes, any three points can be a triangle, but these three will be close together.) On October 14, the moon will sit between and below the two planets, coming as close as four degrees from Saturn, per EarthSky

You can find them in the southern sky just after sundown. Saturn and Jupiter will be easy to see when the sun's light has faded. Saturn will stick around until about an hour after midnight local time, according to In the Sky. Jupiter will stay up for another hour. 

The three will be easy to spot. Find the moon. The two bright "stars" nearby are Saturn and Jupiter. Jupiter will be brighter than Saturn. It's the brightest object besides the moon in the night sky right now. It's brighter than any star, making it easily recognizable. In the northern hemisphere, Saturn is just off to the right of Jupiter and has a slightly golden color.

In the same area, you can find the bright star Fomalhaut as well. Though, its pales compared to brilliant Jupiter and Saturn. Nonetheless, as ever, there's so much to see up in the sky even beyond the eye-catching formation you'll find up there this week.

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Dustin Nelson is a Senior Staff Writer at Thrillist. Follow Dustin Nelson on Twitter.