Look up June 8th and 9th, when the two brightest planets in the solar system—Venus and Jupiter—will pass very close to one another in the evening sky.
The pair will reach their closest separation on June 9th, just 1.5° apart. On June 8th, Venus will appear below and to the right of Jupiter and will shine slightly brighter. By June 9th, Venus will shift to appear just above Jupiter.
A planetary conjunction occurs when two planets appear very close together in the sky from Earth because they line up in the same direction along the ecliptic—the flat plane in which the planets orbit the Sun. Since each planet orbits at a different distance and speed, their positions constantly shift relative to one another, and from our point of view on Earth, they occasionally “catch up” or pass each other in the sky. The result is not an actual close encounter in space, but an alignment along our line of sight that creates the striking visual effect of a close approach.
The best viewing opportunity will be about 30–60 minutes after sunset, looking toward the northwest horizon.
