What is the Venus-Jupiter conjunction and how can you view it?

Tonight and tomorrow night time (1st and 2nd March), skywatchers shall be handled to an uncommon sight as two planets will align in such a manner that it’s going to seem as if they’re touching one another in house.

Jupiter, the photo voltaic system’s largest planet, and Venus, the brightest, will come collectively in what is named a conjunction. But what’s going on?

What is it?
“Conjunctions are when two celestial bodies – usually planets – look very close in the sky from our viewpoint on Earth,” says Martin Archer at Imperial College London. “The reason it happens is all the planets around the sun orbit in roughly the same plane, called the ecliptic. That means from any given viewpoint, there might be a time where the planets would be kind of at the same angle.”

How do you see it?
It is feasible to see the conjunction – seen within the western sky – with the bare eye. This is due to the dimensions of the planets concerned. But you too can use binoculars or a telescope.

How usually does this occur?
That is right down to Kepler’s legal guidelines of planetary movement, and the way the planets orbit across the solar as a perform of gravity. “It turns out these conjunctions can happen a lot,” says Archer. “Inner planets orbit faster than the Earth does, so it means from our vantage point we can get a lot of conjunctions.” Venus and Jupiter converge simply over as soon as yearly.

Why are conjunctions so standard with individuals?
In light-polluted areas, like cities, we regularly don’t see many stars, however we will see planets. “With the naked eye, you can usually see planets like Venus, Jupiter and Saturn,” says Archer. “To have two of them close in the sky is pretty cool.”

Are Jupiter and Venus shut in actuality?
While it might look like the 2 planetary our bodies are touching, they really aren’t. They are round 600 million kilometres aside, and so a conjunction is nothing to fret about – though prior to now, some individuals did discover the occasions regarding.

“There used to be a history of these conjunctions being a warning signal,” says Archer. “It’s literally because we’re standing in the right place in the solar system to see them close together. They’re not doing anything to one another. It’s just a pretty light show.”