*** If you ever thought skywatching was too complicated, then we've got an event for you. And it lasts through the end of the year.
With or without a telescope, the giant planets
Jupiter and Saturn make skywatching simple and rewarding by hanging close, bright and long in the night sky. Saturn is the brightest it has been in more than two decades. 
Click here to see a Flash graphic that illustrates how a planet lines up when it's at opposition, conjunction and other positions.
A neat feature of celestial alignment makes all this possible: Jupiter and Saturn both reached their "opposition" during November.
What is opposition? If you could view the solar system from above, you'd see Earth racing around the Sun on an inner track, more quickly than the gas giants. When our planet "catches up" with Jupiter and Saturn, it sits squarely between them and the Sun.
"At opposition, a planet generally rises at sunset, is high in the south at midnight, and sets at sunrise," explains Kevin Conod, astronomer at the Newark Museum's Dreyfuss Planetarium in New Jersey. "Opposition is also the point at which a planet is closest to Earth. Therefore it appears larger and subtle features can be easier to view."
So to see Jupiter and Saturn, all you have to do is go outside and look up. And with a pair of binoculars, more surprises await.
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"Many people are surprised that the moons of Jupiter are visible in binoculars," Conod said. "You can watch them change position in a surprisingly short amount of time."
The moons appear as small pinpoints of light, like tiny stars.
Conod recommends a small
telescope, even with a power of less than 50x, to see Saturn's rings. The rings are tilted 24 degrees to our line of sight, more than at any time since 1990. And at that time, Saturn was much farther from Earth. A small telescope will also resolve some of Jupiter's colorful cloud features. A larger telescope can reveal Jupiter's
Great Red Spot and the Cassini Division, a dark band dividing the major rings of Saturn, as well as a handful of Saturn's moons.Next page: Viewing tips; plus, Venus joins the act
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When it happens
Saturn came to opposition on Sunday, November 19, about 756 million miles (1.2 billion kilometers) from Earth. Jupiter reaches opposition on November 27, and will be roughly 376 million miles (605 million kilometers) from Earth. Because it is closer to Earth, Jupiter is considerably brighter than Saturn
"Both planets will remain prominent in the night sky throughout November and December," says James White, executive director of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. "Jupiter is by far the brightest object in the southeastern part of the sky in the early evening. Saturn ... lies to the upper right of Jupiter in the early evening."
Viewing tips
Dark skies, away from urban areas, generally aid astronomical observations. But this is not as much of a factor with planets. There are, however, some things you can do to improve your view no matter where you live.
"Heat rising in front of the telescope can distort your view," Conod said. "Try to avoid pointing your scope over large parking lots, rooftops, and cars, which tend to give off heat at night."
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He also suggests waiting until late at night, when the planets are higher in the sky. Then, light from the planet passes through less of Earth's atmosphere, and the image is clearer.
More to look for
Venus also puts on a show through the end of the year. It is the extremely bright "star" in the southwest around sunset. Venus is an elusive character: Being closer to the Sun than Earth, it is often lost in the great star's glare. But when it is visible, it shines bright enough to encourage people around the world to call local law enforcement, asking about the strange bright object hovering low in the sky.
Other easy-to-see sky events:
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