Astronomy Picture of the Day . ... Venus, the second closest planet to the Sun, is by far the brightest of the three planets gathered in this weekend's western sky at sunset. ... This weekend three planets will grace the western sky, forming a lovely trio easily visible shortly after sunset. ... From Earth, we usually see Saturn's rings from the same side of the ring plane that the Sun illuminates them. ... As the Earth rotates to eclipse the Sun, sunset rises up from the ground. ...