For the second time in less than a month the planet Venus and the Moon are poised to put on a spectacular show for stargazers.

Last Friday, June 11, Venus reached its greatest apparent distance from the sun in 1999 (45o). For the rest of June and most of July the second planet from the sun lies 30 to 40 degrees above the western horizon as the sun sets. Blazing at magnitude -4.3, it's nearly impossible to miss. Venus is so bright that it is frequently mistaken for an airplane or a UFO.

On Wednesday, June 16, sparkling Venus will gain a companion. The slender crescent moon will skim by Venus, passing just 3 degrees below the bright planet. It's a lovely sight that stargazers won't want to miss. Because Venus and the Moon are so bright they should be visible even through the glare of urban lights.

There will be another close encounter with Venus in June, but this one won't be visible to the naked eye. On June 24, NASA's Cassini spacecraft -- bound for Saturn -- will fly by Venus on its way to the outer solar system. Cassini will fly about 600 kilometers (373 miles) from Venus, gaining a boost in speed from that planet's gravity. In August, Cassini flies past Earth at an altitude of 1,166 kilometers (725 miles), about five times higher than the Space Shuttle's orbit. The Earth swingby will bend
Cassini's flight path toward Jupiter, where Cassini will perform yet another flyby at a distance of 9.7 million kilometers (6 million miles), using Jupiter's gravity to swing the spacecraft on to its final destination of Saturn.