Jupiter and Venus to form a rare conjunction tonight; You can watch it with naked eyes

Jupiter and Venus to form a rare conjunction tonight; You can watch it with naked eyes

Mangalore Today News Network

March 01, 2023: In what will be one of the rarest celestial events, Jupiter and Venus will come together to form a conjunction in the skies across the world.

The rare event will see Venus and Jupiter being separated by barely 0.5 degrees in the sky and will appear overlapping each other as they continue to move around in their orbit as seen from Earth.

 

The two planets have been coming close for a while now and since mid-February, they have been visible in the skies shining bright. Stargazers across the world have captured them dancing together as they inch closer every day in harmony.

The planetary meet-up, also known as a conjunction, makes the two planets appear close together or even touch in the Earth’s night sky.

At its closest, the two planets will be separated by just 0.5 degrees in the skies. However, they are separated by millions of kilometers in the vacuum of space. The two will appear closest due to their position in their orbits around the Sun as seen from Earth.

When to watch Venus-Jupiter Conjunction?

The best time to watch the conjunction will be just after sunset. India can see the conjunction after 5:30 pm as the two planets appear in the sky closer than ever.

While a clear sky with low cloud cover will be helpful, the planets will be visible to the naked eye. Venus and Jupiter are currently the two brightest planets visible in the sky at the moment as they inch closer to each other every day.

Jupiter is expected to be bright with a magnitude of -2.1, twice as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky. However, it is Venus, which will be brighter at magnitude -4.0. Venus ranks as the 3rd-brightest natural body in the sky, after the sun and moon.

What happens next?

The two planets will be in conjunction on March 1 and 2 as they begin their outward journey separating from each other after that.

Venus will then rise above Jupiter and on March 3 it will take over the gas giant as Jupiter’s altitude starts decreasing in the sky. Jupiter will disappear by March 11 as it sinks into the Sun’s glare.

Courtesy: India Today