BellaOnline Forums Education Astronomy Jupiter cozies up to Venus

Both Venus and Jupiter have been bright objects in the sky for many weeks now. I've been seeing them after sunset before the sky is even dark. Venus is the brighter of the two - you can see why the UFO reports increase when Venus is bright. But Jupiter also shows up nicely.

But keep an eye on them. Throughout June each night Jupiter gets closer and closer to Venus in what's a superb planetary conjunction at the end of the month.

For southern hemisphere readers who want a guide to the sky giving your view, here is some help from Paul Floyd with Where to look for the planets in June.

Paul Floyd is a keen amateur astronomer and primary school teacher, so his site contains lots of useful information and great ideas for the classroom too. He is Australian, but probably the curricula of other countries have similar requirements.

The Moon, which had gone to a slim crescent, is now so close to the Sun in the sky that it can't be seen at all. It will reappear in the sky in a few days with the horns of the crescent pointing in the opposite direction. Here is a photograph taken by the amazing French astrophotographer Thierry Legault of the youngest new moon ever photographed.

On June 19th, North Americans should be able to see the crescent Moon below Venus and Jupiter after sunset.

I'm not sure what we'll see in most of Europe, as they will be very low in the western sky. I have a clear western horizon, so hope that weather will permit viewing, and that the sky will be dark enough. June 20th may be better.

I guessed that sky would be completely clouded over last night so that I couldn't see Venus and Jupiter with the crescent Moon. Yep! Got that right! But here's someone in Colorado did better, and has captured the two planets and Moon with earthshine.

You can find out here what Earthshine is.

We got some great pix on Thurs night. When is the conjunction the closest?

So glad to hear you not only got to see the triple conjunction, but photograph it too. Venus and Jupiter will keep getting closer together for another week. They're at their closest - which will apparently be very close indeed - on June 30th. But if that's clouded out for you, July 1st should be pretty good too.

If you've been seeing Jupiter and Venus in the sky after sunset this month, you've probably noticed that they're getting closer together. Tuesday night (June 30) is the Big Night when they will be at their closest, just 0.3 degrees apart. The separation is less than the width of a full Moon.

Here is a picture taken of Jupiter, Venus and the crescent Moon (complete with earthshine) on June 19th.

I hope you caught Venus and Jupiter in the sunset sky last night. If not, have a look tonight. They were at their closest last night, but they'll still be close tonight - and a lovely view for a number of nights to come.

Here's the view of the two planets from Poland. (A better view than from London - too many clouds and buildings in the way when I looked.)

Jupiter and Venus are now slowly moving apart, but they're still a pretty sight. On July 18 they will be grouped along with the bright star Regulus and a crescent Moon. And there are other planets to see too. Find out more about the sky in July from the folks at EarthSky.