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Jupiter and Venus completely after together: Although only an optical illusion, comes so only again in 2025.
They are separated by several million kilometres, but if you look up after sunset these days, you will see the planets Jupiter and Venus twinkling as bright points very close to each other. An encounter that occurs only about once every two years.
If you observe the clear night sky these days, you will see two bright points sparkling in close unison in the southwest. Jupiter and Venus are on a cuddly course for our eyes after sunset. A deceptive togetherness since the two planets of our solar system are hundreds of millions of kilometres apart.
“Jupiter and Venus have been getting closer and closer in recent weeks and days,” said Sven Melchert, chairman of the Association of Friends of the Stars. In their orbits of varying speeds around the sun at the center, they have come closest these days and then move away from each other again.
The supposed rendezvous of the gas giant Jupiter in the outer solar system and our neighbour Venus in the inner solar system is only an optical impression. Venus is currently a good 200 million kilometres away from Earth, the largest planet Jupiter more than 860 million, according to astronomers. From now on, the distance between the two celestial bodies will increase again.
On March 23, the waxing moon’s crescent will stand between the two in the sky. “Such encounters between Jupiter and Venus are easily seen about every two years,” Melchert said. The next one, he said, will peak on August 12, 2025, but then in the morning sky.
Source: ntv.de, yes/dpa/picture: pixabay.com
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