The deal with the two bright dots in the night
You have probably seen an additional bright speck in the night sky for the past few nights, and now you can find out why. The bright specks in the night sky are Jupiter and Venus, set to make a night sky spectacle on Tuesday by conjunction. But already, even before the night sky spectacle is due to happen, the visual we have seen thus far is spectacle enough.
As Venus is closer to Earth than Jupiter, the larger of the bright dots in the night is Venus, while the smaller one is Jupiter, farther away. The event of the two planets being in such close proximity will last about a week, so get your fill of photos of the night sky spectacle that is to be while you can.
Jupiter and Venus will ever so slowly inch toward each other
As Tuesday gets closer and closer to today, so too will the two planets inch towards each other. By Sunday, they will be approximately one degree from each other, and before you know it, on Tuesday the 30th of June, they will be at the closest. Then, we will have our night sky spectacle; an almost double star-like appearance.
The two will be so close together that you’ll be able to cover them both up with one of your fingers. You can see the spectacle every day at sunset, with Venus appearing first as the sun sets before Jupiter then appears. A conjunction with two planets this close is rare and will not happen for a while- in fact, this is the only summertime conjunction of the two planets that we will get to witness in our lifetimes.
An interesting history of the two planets, a night sky spectacle
The subsequent conjunction of the two planets is interesting because the double star-like appearance will resemble a Star of Bethlehem. But whether or not you are looking at the sky on Tuesday for that reason or you are simply drawn to the sky during this unforgettable spectacle, all of us will nevertheless be awe-struck by planetary conjunction that night.
