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Planets Jupiter and Venus in conjunction are seen after sunset above LAquila, Italy, on March 1st, 2023. Planets seem to be very close (less than a degree away from each other). Moons (satellites) of Jupiter are visible even with a telephoto lens. (P
If you catch yourself looking up in the sky towards the west Wednesday and Thursday night, you'll notice what appears to be two extremely brights light next to each other. Those two lights are actually Venus and Jupiter.
Venus is the brighter planet, according to earthsky.org, and is climbing higher in the west after sunset each night. While this is happening, Venus is also inching closer to Jupiter — the second-brightest planet in the solar system.
The two planets made their closest approach on March 1, with Venus slowly shifting towards Jupiter and passing each other just half a degree apart, NASA explained on its website. According to the National Weather Service, the next time Venus and Jupiter will be this close together will be February 7, 2032.
FOX 35 viewers sent photos of this bright phenomenon.
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Credit: Sonia Walton
Both planets are expected to remain close all week as Jupiter will spend the rest of the month descending further into the sunset glare before sinking out of view later in the month.
Throughout February, both planets edged closer to each other day by day. Venus will continue rising in the sky until August 2023.
Later this month, Mars will be visible in the night sky emitting a red color a few hours after midnight.
