Spectacular Pair

Are you an early riser? You might want to be over the next couple of days! Jupiter and Venus are getting closer and closer to each other in our skies, visible in the east about 45 minutes before sunrise. Jupiter and Venus are the next brightest objects in the sky right now after the Sun and Moon, so it will be a dramatic showing! See star chart below for Saturday, August 16.

Venus and Jupiter just a few degrees apart on August 16 at 5:15 AM. Also notice Orion the Hunter, a winter constellation! Image Credit: Stellarium.

On Thursday, August 14, the two planets will be only 5 degrees apart in the sky. They will get closer and closer each day, until they reach their closest point on Monday, August 18. Sunrise is just about 6 AM right now, so you will have to get up at 5:15 AM if you want to spot the spectacular pair. The sky will already be brightening, but the planets will shine through. See chart below for Monday - you can't read the planet labels because they are on top of each other! 

Venus and Jupiter will appear closest in the sky on August 18, and will be very bright. Image Credit: Stellarium.

Of course, Jupiter and Venus are not actually close together at all. Venus is the second planet from the Sun, and about 67,000,000 miles from our star (or 6 light minutes!). Jupiter is the first of the gas giants, and very far from the Sun, about 484,000,000 miles away (about 40 light minutes). For comparison, Earth is about 93,000,000 miles away from the Sun, or about 8 light minutes. It is just because we are observing these planets from Earth that it looks like they are close together in our sky. Because Venus (and Mercury) orbits the Sun closer then the Earth does, it always appears close to the Sun in our skies and is only visible around sunset or sunrise. In contrast, because Jupiter is farther from the Sun then Earth, it can appear around sunset or sunrise like this week, but at other times it can been seen in the middle of the night, or at any hour. This past winter, spring and early summer Jupiter appeared bright in our evening skies. From our point of view on Earth, it has since passed behind the Sun, and now is appearing in the early morning. See images below showing the positions of the planets on August 18.

Earth, Venus, and Jupiter will make an nearly straight line on August 18th, causing Jupiter and Venus to look very close together in our skies! Image credit: Solar System Scope

Seen edge on, it is easier to visualize why Jupiter and Venus look close together, even though they are millions of miles apart. Image credit: Solar System Scope

Learn more about Jupiter in these posts, here and here! As always, visit the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum to learn more about what's up in the night sky and the latest news from space. And don't forget to set your alarm and try to spot Jupiter and Venus as they appear to merge in the dawn sky!