This weekend, Venus should appear in the western sky at sunset, weather permitting, and should be visible as a dazzling skywatching target nearly all night long. The planet can easily be spotted by the unaided, though small telescopes or binoculars can reveal its disc and, at times, phases.

The Venus sky map associated with this guide shows where to look in the western sky to see bright planet this weekend. The planet Jupiter can also be seen below Venus in early evening, with bright red Mars shining high up in the eastern sky.

Venus's weekend display follows months of eye-popping views of the planet since Aug. 16, when it officially became an "evening star" on Aug. 16. At that time, Venus appeared from our Earthly vantage point to be situated on the far side of its orbit, and was invisible due to its proximity to the sun in our sky. It took the rest of the northern summer and on into the first part of autumn before Venus finally began to make itself evident, low in the western sky soon after sunset.