Despite a year filled with lockdowns and social isolation, the starry skies of 2020 gave us solace and enthralled us with a parade of eye-catching celestial events. The astronomical calendar this past year was packed full of memorable sights, including the surprise appearance of the bright comet NEOWISE, the decade’s best views of Mars, a Halloween blue moon, and a much-anticipated historically close encounter between Jupiter and Saturn.

Scores of amazing astronomical phenomena are also in the offing throughout 2021. Here are our picks for the predicted celestial events worth circling on your calendar in the new year.

Early risers will be rewarded with a close encounter between two of the brightest planets in our skies: Venus and