Celestial conjunction: You can still spot Venus, Jupiter in the sky

Hyderabad: Venus’ conjunction with Jupiter occurred on 2 March at 11.06 a.m. (IST) as a finish to the celestial coming together of planets Venus and Jupiter. People have been observing these two planets collide in the sky for the past two weeks. Jupiter and Venus will continue to move away from each other in the western sky after sunset until 8 p.m. for the next few days.

What to expect after 2 March?

After 2 March, and virtually until the end of the month, we can continue to view Venus and Jupiter drifting apart in the sky between sunset and 8 p.m. Jupiter, however, becomes a morning object after March. Venus will be visible in the evening sky in the west until August 2023.

3 March 2023

Venus starts moving away from Jupiter as the gas giant’s altitude decreases in the twilight sky. Jupiter will drop under the Sun’s glare before reaching solar conjunction (being on the opposite side of the Sun from Earth) on 11 April 2023.

Why is the Venus-Jupiter conjunction so special?

Although we won’t see another Big Conjunction—a conjunction of the two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn—until 2040, the Venus-Jupiter conjunction over the last month provided great views.