Friday night sky to feature brilliant rendezvous of 2 celestial objects

After a busy day of Black Friday shopping, people will be able to step outside and look to the heavens to see a serene scene of the moon next to the ringed jewel of the solar system.

Shortly after sunset on Friday, stargazers of all ages will be able to turn their gaze to the southwestern sky to see Saturn meet up with the thin crescent moon, an astronomical event known as a conjunction.

No telescope is required to see the astronomical meet-up as both Saturn and the moon will be bright enough to view with the naked eye. However, people that pick up a telescope while out shopping on Black Friday will be able to test them out by pointing them at these easy-to-spot celestial objects.

Using a telescope to look at the moon will allow observers to see many of the larger craters on its surface.

Looking through the eyepiece of a telescope with a magnification of at least 25x should be able to reveal Saturn and its famous rings, one of the most breathtaking sights in the solar system.

Saturn as seen through a telescope. (Image/NASA)

NASA

Folks outside on Friday evening looking for Saturn and the crescent moon will also be able to see Venus and Jupiter visible in the same part of the sky.

Venus will be the brighter of the two planets with Jupiter shining visibly just off to the right.

If cloudy weather obscures the sky on Friday evening, stargazers will still be able to see Saturn and the moon the following nights, but they will grow farther and farther apart each night.