{"id":718018,"date":"2026-06-06T01:33:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-06T01:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/718018\/"},"modified":"2026-06-06T01:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-06T01:33:11","slug":"venus-and-jupiter-cozy-up-in-the-night-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/718018\/","title":{"rendered":"Venus and Jupiter cozy up in the night sky"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

From left, Venus, the Moon and Jupiter come together in the sky, as seen from Hungary in 2019. The planets will appear beside each other once again on the evening of June 9.Peter Komka\/The Associated Press<\/p>\n

\u201cLove conquers all,\u201d the poet Virgil famously declared.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a sentiment that the astronomers of Virgil\u2019s time must have endorsed. Like the Greeks and the Babylonians before them, the Romans of antiquity named the brightest and most stunning planet in the night sky after their goddess of love: the immortal Venus.<\/p>\n

Even the head honcho of Roman gods, mighty Jupiter (whose name is a version of \u201cdeus pater,\u201d or sky father), had to be content with getting the second brightest among planets. <\/p>\n

Skywatchers across Canada can compare for themselves when both planets appear side by side in the evening sky next week. For good measure, the planet Mercury \u2013 usually a challenge to spot \u2013 will also be lingering nearby. But the close pairing of Venus and Jupiter is the real attention-getter. <\/p>\n

For weeks, both planets have been visible in the west right after sunset alongside Castor and Pollux, the two brightest stars in the constellation Gemini. But Venus is on the march, moving along in its orbit and shifting its position with respect to stars in the background. Jupiter is doing the same, but it\u2019s much farther from the sun and moving more slowly along its longer orbital path. <\/p>\n

Since both orbits are in the same plane from our point of view, it looks like Venus is overtaking Jupiter. On the evening of Tuesday, June 9, the gap between the two planets will appear to have narrowed to little more than the width of a finger held at arm\u2019s length. If skies are clear, the sight will be hard to miss.<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

Planets on parade<\/p>\n

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will appear to be beside each other this month, with their closest approach happening June 9. To see them, look west-northwest starting about 45 minutes after sunset. Venus (the brighter of the two) and Jupiter will be obvious if skies are clear. The planet mercury should also be visible lower down and to the right.<\/p>\n

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: SKY AND TELESCOPE<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

Planets on parade<\/p>\n

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will appear to be beside each other this month, with their closest approach happening June 9. To see them, look west-northwest starting about 45 minutes after sunset. Venus (the brighter of the two) and Jupiter will be obvious if skies are clear. The planet mercury should also be visible lower down and to the right.<\/p>\n

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: SKY AND TELESCOPE<\/p>\n

\t\t<\/p>\n

Planets on parade<\/p>\n

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the sky, will appear to be beside each other this month, with their closest approach happening June 9. To see them, look west-northwest starting about 45 minutes after sunset. Venus (the brighter of the two) and Jupiter will be obvious if skies are clear. The planet Mercury should also be visible lower down and to the right.<\/p>\n

THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: SKY AND TELESCOPE<\/p>\n

Apart from the moon, there\u2019s nothing brighter at night than Venus or Jupiter. Whenever the two appear close together it\u2019s a guaranteed eye-catcher. <\/p>\n

Astronomers call this type of planetary meeting a conjunction. But the idea that Venus and Jupiter are actually getting together in space is an illusion. In reality, the two planets are nowhere near each other. <\/p>\n

Venus, which orbits the sun more closely than Earth, is currently about 184 million kilometres away and approaching us like a race car on the inside track. In contrast, Jupiter is nearly five times farther away, over on the other side of the solar system.<\/p>\n

Pushed by climate change, Canada\u2019s northern great lakes show signs of a biological reset<\/a><\/p>\n

What makes these planets so bright? In the case of Venus, it\u2019s because the planet\u2019s rock surface is entirely shrouded in clouds composed of sulphuric acid \u2013 toxic but excellent at reflecting sunlight. Jupiter, on the other hand, has no surface at all. It is a giant sphere consisting mainly of liquid hydrogen with cloud tops made of ammonia ice crystals.<\/p>\n

Mercury, a small rocky world with no substantial atmosphere or clouds to speak of, just can\u2019t compete on the brightness scale.<\/p>\n

None of these planets are hospitable to life as we know it, but that\u2019s not a barrier to enjoying them in the Earth\u2019s skies.<\/p>\n

Look for them all \u2013 but be prepared to be bowled over by the brilliance of Venus in particular. <\/p>\n

In the words of Virgil: \u201cLet us, too, yield to love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: From left, Venus, the Moon and Jupiter come together in the sky, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":718019,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49,48,66,306],"class_list":["post-718018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=718018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/718018\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/718019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=718018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=718018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=718018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}