Sydney is in the box seat to watch a rare astronomical threesome.

On Wednesday evening the International Space Station will pass close to Venus and Jupiter in the north-western sky, as viewed from Earth.

The International Space Station will pass close to Venus and Jupiter on Wednesday night. Credit:Penleigh Boyd

At 5:31pm AEST, the ISS, which looks like a fairly bright, moving star, will appear low in the north-western horizon. It will rise and pass Jupiter first and then journey past Venus at 5:34pm.

The space station will take only seven minutes to cross from one horizon to the other.