Venus And Jupiter Will Shine In The Night Sky As The Seasons Shift

Last week, when Venus and Jupiter lined up with the crescent moon on three straight nights, they stole the show in the sky.

This week’s highlight of the night sky will be the planetary pair as they look incredibly close together, an astronomical event known as a conjunction.

The “Christmas star” on December 21, 2020, when Jupiter and Saturn looked to shine together just four nights before Christmas, will be comparable to the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus this week. Due to their resemblance, this week’s convergence of Jupiter and Venus can be referred to as the “spring star” since it will occur on the first night of meteorological spring, which begins on March 1 every year. The meteorological spring, on the other hand, starts about three weeks later on the equinox.

On Wednesday night, there will be less space between the two planets in the heavens than the width of a pinky finger held at arm’s length. But this is only seen from Earth’s vantage point. They will actually be more than 400 million kilometers apart.

Without a telescope, astronomers of all ages can readily distinguish Venus and Jupiter in the western sky, but a telescope or a pair of binoculars can make the pairing even more impressive.

Similar to how Jupiter and Venus will meet on Wednesday, they did so on June 29, 2015. People who had their telescopes set up during that occurrence eight years ago were able to see the planets in the same field of view. The four largest moons that circle Jupiter, Europa, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto, can also be seen with most telescopes.

Throughout the month of March, Venus and Jupiter will continue to be conspicuous planets in the evening sky, but they will become increasingly distant from one another.

The crescent moon will appear nearby on March 23 in an event similar to the late February alignment, making it an excellent night to view the planets once again.

Venus And Jupiter Will Shine In The Night Sky As The Seasons Shift

Last week, when Venus and Jupiter lined up with the crescent moon on three straight nights, they stole the show in the sky.

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