A really cool planetary event is happening on Monday, then not again until 2040

A planetary event that will not happen again until 2040 will occur Monday morning when Venus, Mars and Saturn appear very close together near the horizon just before sunrise.

And to make the show more fun, a crescent moon will appear nearby.

They aren’t really close together, of course. Venus will be 69 million miles from earth while Mars will be 169 million miles away and Saturn will be 978 million miles away.

But from the perspective of Earth, their positions as they orbit around the sun will make them appear so close together that they will be visible within the same binocular field.

They should be easy to find because Venus is always the brightest object in the night sky, not counting the moon. You can use Venus and the moon to find Mars and Saturn. The time to take a look will be just after 6 a.m., about 45 minutes before sunrise.

“Brilliant Venus will be low in the east-southeast,” said Jeff Hunt, a retired Illinois planetarium director whose website — whenthecurveslineup.com — tracks interesting celestial events for amateur sky gazers. “You don’t need a binocular. You walk outside and you see this brilliant planet in the east-southeast, you see the crescent moon beneath it. Saturn is between Venus and the moon, Mars to the upper right.

“Saturn is slightly brighter than Mars. Mars is kind of reddish coppery color. Saturn is more yellowish-orange. A binocular will accent what you see, but you don’t need it.”

The next morning, there will be a “conjunction” of Venus appearing to cross the path of Saturn. And on April 30-May 1, Venus will be in conjunction with Jupiter.

The next time Venus, Saturn and Mars will appear this close will occur in Sept. 6, 2040.