Venus and Jupiter to come closest in rare event on March 1

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

New Delhi, Feb 22, 2023: Stars, cosmic elements and planets are fascinating not just for people interested in science but for others as well. Now, they could get a chance to witness a rare occurrence when two of our solar system’s brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus, which have been slowly approaching each other over the past few weeks, will meet in the night sky. Space.com reports that both planets were 29 degrees apart at the beginning of February, but that they are now gradually moving closer to one another.

 

The distance between the two planets appeared to be around ‘three fists’ at the start of this month. However, the distance has now been coming down with each passing day. The distance between Jupiter and Venus was roughly nine degrees on February 20 but by February 27, the gap reportedly dropped to 2.3 degrees.

On the evening of March 1, the planets’ positioning will lay out a spectacular visual as they will be barely 0.52 degrees apart at their closest. Venus will be blazing at magnitude -4.0 which is said to be about six times brighter than Jupiter. On the other hand, Jupiter will be visible at magnitude -2.1 which is twice as bright as Sirius, the brightest star in the sky.

The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will also have the moon joining in. The report further stated that “the moon will add its own special lustre to this array during the evenings of February 21 and 22.” A thin sliver of a waxing crescent moon can be seen about an hour after sunset if sky gazers look low towards the west-southwest horizon. In the night sky, the moon, Jupiter, and Venus will look approximately equally distant from one another, producing a long-crooked line. During this, Jupiter at the top, hovering about 8 degrees above and to the left of Venus and the moon being about 7 degrees below Venus.

It’s not uncommon for Venus and Jupiter to be in conjunction. Hence, the distance between them is what makes this conjunction unique. The conjunctions between Venus and Jupiter reportedly happen on average every 13 months, according to calculations made by planetary motion expert Jean Meeus. However, this is not always true since these two planets occasionally form a triple conjunction over the course of four months. During the spring and summer of 2036, Venus is expected to make its next three-time passing with Jupiter.