Currently shining at its greatest brilliance for this current apparition, this dazzling evening "star" currently appears as a distinct crescent shape in small telescopes, which is growing progressively larger in size as it approaches our Earth.

This is the last chance to catch the pair in conjunction this year—with Venus set to be unusually bright in the night sky.

I pick out North America’s celestial highlights for the week ahead (which also apply to mid-northern latitudes in the northern hemisphere).

A remarkable sight will appear in the southwestern sky an hour after sunset Saturday evening when Venus appears very close to a thin crescent moon. This celestial phenomenon is called a conjunction, which means two or more heavenly bodies appear very close to each other.