Gregg Dinderman of www.skyandtelescope.com.

LAKE COUNTY – Star gazers, take note – a beautiful and fascinating show of the planets is currently on display in the night sky.

Beginning on Thursday night, Jupiter and Venus will line up in the southwest sky, and will continue to do so through Sunday as part of a nightly dinner date.

By about 5:15 p.m. it's dark enough to see the two planets; look about halfway up in the southwestern sky in the early evening. They will set together in the west at about 7:45 p.m.

The king and queen of the planets will be closest on the night of Sunday, Nov. 30; the following night, Dec. 1, they will joined by a nearly four-day-old moon that will be accompanied by earthshine, or a reflection of the sun off the earth and onto the moon.

Over the following nights Jupiter and Venus will begin moving out of their alignment.

The year 2011 will reportedly be the next time such a display will be seen in the sky. The last time it was seen worldwide was last February.

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