Anyone who went out last night to see if the aurora lights would show themselves a third time was disappointed. The Northern Lights have moved towards Russia. However, the two bright planets close to each other instantly stood out like piercing eyes. On Wednesday night they seem to be on an even more collision course. Viewed from Earth, it is semi-biased. This is especially noticeable because they are the brightest objects in the starry sky – apart from the moon.

on the same line

“It may seem that Venus and Jupiter are very close to each other, but in reality they are still hundreds of millions of kilometers apart,” says Theo Mulder of the Orion General Observatory in Bovenkarspil.

Jupiter orbits the Sun in a much larger orbit than Venus and Earth. “But on Wednesday night, Venus passes in front of Jupiter, bringing them into alignment as seen from Earth.”

This conjunction of planets does not happen often. At the end of April last year, they were seen close to each other. The next time they appear to be roughly aligned again will be in the year 2039.

“You can simply photograph this phenomenon with your mobile phone,” Mulder says. “The sun will set around six tonight and then you have about an hour and a half to see the occultation. It depends on where you are, because in a busy city the planets can hide behind roofs. If you are standing in an open field with a clear horizon, it is possible to see the planets until seven o’clock.” and a half.”

special month

It is a special month for fans of the fantastic phenomena above our heads. The northern lights were seen on Monday and Tuesday with the naked eye in many dark places in the country. Earlier in February, using binoculars or a telescope, it was already possible to see the green comet ZTF near the constellation Orion, another phenomenon that doesn’t happen every day.

During Wednesday, Jupiter was the upper planet, while Venus (the brighter of the two) was the lower planet. From Thursday, when they’re farther apart, it’s the other way around.