The Conjunction Of Venus And Jupiter: The Two Planets Are Approaching Each Other In A Wonderful Celestial Scene
This Wednesday evening, the planets Jupiter and Venus will appear, as if they were almost touching in the sky.
This phenomenon is known as a conjunction - when a planet appears to be close to a moon, star or other planet.
According to NASA, the glow coming from Jupiter, which is the largest planet in the solar system, and Venus, which is the brightest planet, will create a stunning glow.
People will also be able to see four of Jupiter's brightest moons.
Over the past two weeks, the two planets have slowly approached each other, but in reality they are still 400 million miles (600 million kilometers) apart.
Conjunctions occur so frequently in our solar system because "the planets orbit the sun in roughly the same plane - the sun's path - and thus follow similar paths across our sky," according to NASA.
So, although these two planets often converge "without any great astronomical significance," NASA says it's "nice to see."
When the sky is clear, people will be able to see the conjunction with the naked eye, but vision can be improved through binoculars or a telescope.
Since the two planets will be low on the horizon, the view will be better from above a hill or from a place free of tall buildings.
A timetable for the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter in 2023 , according to the scientific magazine “Science Focus”:
• February 20, 2023 : The distance between Venus and Jupiter was 10 degrees, and this was visible about 30 minutes after sunset.
• February 21, 2023 : A thin, bright crescent moon joined the two planets.
• February 26, 2023 : Stargazers in the United Kingdom spotted the planets Venus and Jupiter against a backdrop of a rare aurora.
• February 27, 2023 : Venus approached Jupiter, and both of them could be seen with the naked eye in the constellation of Pisces.
• February 28, 2023 : Venus rose in the sky, rapidly approaching Jupiter, while Jupiter seemed to align with the stars.
• March 1, 2023 : Venus and Jupiter approach each other, and only 39 arc minutes separate them.
• March 2, 2023 : Venus and Jupiter will remain close together, only 45 arc minutes apart. Venus is now above Jupiter.
• March 3, 2023 : Venus will move away from Jupiter, as Jupiter will begin to drop in the sky during the night. Jupiter will disappear in the sun's glare before it reaches solar conjunction (on the other side of the sun to Earth) on April 11, 2023.
?Why Is The Conjunction Of Venus And Jupiter So Special
We will not see another great conjunction until 2040 - the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn - and therefore the conjunction between Venus and Jupiter this week is a rare opportunity to see this stunning view, especially if the clouds do not obscure the clear view.
Since Venus and Jupiter are the brightest planets in the night sky, they can be seen with the naked eye without binoculars and can be easily distinguished even by the average person. (Although Mars may sometimes surpass Jupiter in terms of brightness, this only happens for a short period of time, unlike the Red Planet, which remains bright most of the time.)
A planet's brightness is indicated by something astronomers call its "apparent magnitude," which simply means that the smaller the number, the brighter the planet. If an object's "apparent magnitude" is less than zero, then it is very bright. During the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter, the “apparent magnitude” of each planet will determine how bright they are in relation to each other.
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