Jupiter

05:20 GMT on 22 January

Constellation: Ophiuchus

Magnitude: -1.8

AM/PM: AM

The largest planet in our Solar System is a strikingly bright morning star, visible in the southeast before sunrise. Shining brightly at magnitude -1.8 it would easily be the brightest object in the morning sky if much brighter Venus wasn’t blazing up there to its upper right. Through January Jupiter and Venus will appear to drift towards each other until they pass on 22 January. On that morning they’ll be less than two-and-a-half degrees apart and will resemble a lovely double star in the pre-dawn sky. Look out for a very thin waning crescent Moon shining close to Jupiter on the morning of 3 February.