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A most amazing alignment of two celestial bodies has been going on for a few weeks! Just look to the WSW skies after dark for the planets Venus and Jupiter!
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and often referred to as the “Goddess of Love and Beauty”, is also the brightest object in the skies, other than the Sun and the Moon. Jupiter is the “King of the Planets” and the largest of the known planets in the entire Solar System.
As you view the conjunction of these two planets, we find that Venus is now some 125 million miles from Earth, while Jupiter is at the incredible distance of some 537 million miles from Earth.
The close alignment of planets can be described as a conjunction of more accurate is the term “appulse”. The two planets will align in what we like to say is “sacred geometry”, that is the study of spiritual meaning of various shapes. Many believe that astrology does come into this story too!
Seeing these two planets is a most amazing experience in the early evening sky.
The great astronomer Kepler believed in the ideas of sacred geometry in his book…Mysterium Cosmographicum, published in 1596.
Here is more information on sacred geometry and the astronomer Kepler:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Kepler#Early_life
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_geometry
Now, let’s look at how to get the best out of the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter.
Here is an image on how to find Venus and Jupiter in the WSW sky on March 1st:
https://skyandtelescope.org/wp-content/uploads/WEBvics23_Mar01ev.jpg
The two planets will still remain very close as we move into the second week of March:
Venus will be closest to Earth in this century, on December 20th 2085 at the close distance of some 24,233,476 miles! This makes it the closest major planet to Earth, even beating out Mars!
Jupiter also gets close to Earth this century! It was at it’s closest to Earth on September 26th 2022, when Jupiter was at the close distance of some 367,230,374 miles!
Conjunctions have always been looked at with wonder over the course of history. We even know that planets many have been behind the story of the birth of the Christ child, Jupiter and Saturn might have been what the Magi saw in the sky back on April 16th 6 B.C., or the alignment of Venus and Jupiter on June 17th 2 B.C.
Here is an archive on major planetary conjunctions in history:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_conjunction
The best views will come to those that have a pair of binoculars or a telescope. On the evening of March 1st and 2nd; the two planets will be visible in the same field of view.
At that time, the distance between the two planets will be about the diameter of a full Moon. The diameter is measured as 30 minutes of arc on average.
Here is an image of the close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. The moons of Jupiter are easily visible in this telephoto image:
https://spaceweathergallery2.com/submissions/pics/p/Peter-Zimnikoval-JupVen28_02_1677788561_lg.jpg
Get set for some great views of the sky in March, as we offer up the monthly star chart:
https://skymaps.com/skymaps/tesmn2303.pdf
Follow my Dr. Sky Experience Pod cast at:
https://wabcradio.com/podcast/the-dr-sky-experience/
Great interviews from the realms of astronomy, Space, Aviation and Weather and many interviews on American Exceptionalism and more!
Follow me weekly with John Catsimatidis on Sunday mornings at:
And with Frank Morano on “The Other Side Of Midnight”, bi weekly at:
https://wabcradio.com/podcast/the-other-side-of-midnight-with-frank-morano/
Clear skies!
My email: drskyshow@gmail.com
