Jupiter & Venus conjunction:  See two planets together in Night Sky

The conjunction of Jupiter and Venus is expected this week to create a spectacle in the sky:  See the two brightest planets together in the Western Night Sky

Over the past week, two bright planets: Venus (our nearest neighbor) and Jupiter (the giant planet) got close together in the west not long after sunset. 

Venus is the brighter of the two, while Jupiter has more of a yellowish color to it.

See the Moon, Venus, and Jupiter align above the Kailash of the South – Velliangiri Mountains!

On 1st March, they will be very close to each other- this is an event known as a conjunction.  In the night sky, the sizes of objects are measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds. 

On 1st March, Venus and Jupiter will just be 39 arc minutes apart.  For example, the full moon is about half a degree or 30 arcminutes across.

On the following evening, the two will be a little further away from each other (45 arc minutes). After that, the planets will continue to move apart. 

Try watching the pair via low power using binoculars or a small telescope to see if you can get both of them into the same field of view.

Jupiter will be much larger and its two main equatorial bands should also be visible, and Venus will appear as a gibbous disc in the telescope.

With each passing night in March, Jupiter will become less visible in the evening sky, but Venus will remain a wonderful target.

If you keep an eye on Venus over the coming months, a telescope will show you how the planet's phase is decreasing as it approaches the earth.

On June 4th, Venus will appear to look like a half-moon since it will be around 50% lit.

After that, it will change to a crescent until it passes between the Earth and Sun on August 13th, an event called inferior conjunction.