These clear nights you can notice two other bright points in the sky in addition to the moon.
If you look west, you can see the two bright lights diagonally above each other. It concerns the planets Venus and Jupiter, which will move closer together in the coming days. “There are often nice things to see in space, but a phenomenon like this is definitely worth paying attention to.”
The brighter of the two is Venus, the other is Jupiter. The planets are the two brightest objects in the sky, next to the sun and the moon. In the coming days, the two planets will creep towards each other as seen from Earth. On Wednesday, March 1, they are closest to each other, just not on the same page. Then they move further away from each other.
To collide
It may seem that the two collide in the coming days, but nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the planets are about 700 million kilometers apart.
The phenomenon is especially visible at the beginning of the evening. This is due to the rotation of the earth and the movement of the two planets themselves, explains science journalist Govert Schilling. “They make the same movement as the sun makes during the day. Just as you watch the sun set, you also see the planets set. A little later in the evening you can only see them low on the horizon in a meadow.”
The phenomenon has been announced for weeks, and Schilling sees it getting more beautiful day by day. “Three weeks ago, Venus was also visible, but Jupiter was still a long way off. But next Wednesday they will come very close together, which is spectacular to see. It is not surprising that you see new things, but it is a very beautiful sight.”
It often happens that the planets are close together as seen from Earth, but not always at the same time of the year. Jupiter appears about once every eleven months. Due to the many clouds it is not always easy to see.
Just a minute
This week the phenomenon from the Netherlands can be seen extra well due to the clear nights. There is a good chance that this will remain the case for the next few days. In any case, Wednesday will be very clear and sunny during the day according to Weerplaza. In the evening there will be some clouds, but there is a good chance that the planets will be clearly visible early in the evening. Enjoy it especially that evening, because after Wednesday there will be a lot more clouds.
Last year they were seen even closer together at the end of April. The next time they appear to be nearly aligned again will be in 2039.
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