The Earth’s two closest planets, Mars and Venus, appear low in the southwestern sky after sunset. There is no mistaking Venus, the brilliant “star” hanging over the western sky. But for those who look intently to the left, there is a dull red “star” which is Mars.

Venus is always an impressive sight. The sister planet to our own is wrapped by white clouds, which helps reflect sunlight better than any other planet in our solar system. Venus is also close, at 64 million miles away. The Sun is 93 million miles away.

Mars is considerably farther away at 158 million miles, and that explains why it is so much fainter than a year ago. A year ago, the planet was strikingly bright and in opposition, a third the distance from the Earth as it is now.

Watch Mars and Venus in the nights ahead, as this alignment is noticeable. By the end of this month, Venus and Mars will be real close, but don’t wait. Watch now. Though these two planets are millions and millions of miles apart, they will appear as though they are making a bee-line trip towards each other.

The gibbous moon moves through the zodiacal constellation Taurus this weekend. The moon is full on Thursday night and we call it the Ice Moon.