{"id":406590,"date":"2026-05-01T11:03:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406590\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:03:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T11:03:13","slug":"venus-and-jupiter-are-side-by-side-in-may-2026-with-a-close-encounter-coming-in-june-heres-how-to-track-them-every-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/406590\/","title":{"rendered":"Venus and Jupiter are side-by-side in May 2026, with a close encounter coming in June. Here’s how to track them every night"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venus and Jupiter are prominent planets visible in the west after sunset throughout May 2026, and the two planets are getting closer together with each passing evening.<\/p>\n

Venus is the brighter, shining at mag. \u20133.8 at the start of May and brightening slightly to \u20133.9 by the start of June.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also the planet nearest to the Sun during May. Jupiter is bright too, shining at mag. \u20131.9 at the start of May, but dimming slightly to \u20131.7 by the start of June.<\/p>\n

At this brightness, both should be easy targets in the evening twilight.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The pair will be at their closest during the Venus-Jupiter conjunction on 9 June 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get weekly stargazing advice and Moon phases delivered to your email inbox by signing up to the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter<\/a><\/p>\n

\"VenusVenus and Jupiter captured by Chirag Upreti over Croton Reservoir in NY State, USA, 12 August 2025, 05:23 local time. A similar meeting of the two planets is visible in June 2026.
\nObserving Venus and Jupiter throughout May 2026<\/p>\n

The changing positions of Venus and Jupiter make May 2026 an especially exciting month to watch both planets.<\/p>\n

As Jupiter slowly drifts ever closer towards the Sun throughout May, Venus appears to move in the opposite direction, pulling away.<\/p>\n

With both planets travelling along the ecliptic, there\u2019s inevitably a point at which they\u2019ll meet.<\/p>\n

\"PersonCredit: M-Gucci \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

\"AngelaAngela Hegarty captured Venus and Jupiter between the trees from Aintree, Liverpool, UK, 12 August 2025, 04:00 local time<\/p>\n

That closest approach occurs in early June, when there\u2019s every chance that unsettled weather may interfere, so it\u2019s well worth following and recording their slow convergence throughout May.<\/p>\n

In addition, as the Moon zips along its orbit close to the ecliptic<\/a>, it too will encounter both Venus and Jupiter, setting the stage for a stunning photo opportunity around 18\u201320 May.<\/p>\n

\"ChartChart showing the location of Venus and Jupiter, 1 May 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/p>\n

The planets start the month nearly 40\u00b0 apart: Venus lies north of Aldebaran<\/a>, while Jupiter sits near Wasat, south of the twin stars Castor and Pollux<\/a> in Gemini<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jupiter\u2019s movement against the background stars is slow, but Venus\u2019s escape from the Sun is rapid, advancing more than a degree eastward each day towards Jupiter.<\/p>\n

By 7 May, as the evening twilight continues to expand, the pair are 33\u00b0 apart.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll have to wait for Venus to sink fairly low to get a good view of both planets against reasonably dark skies.<\/p>\n

\"ChartChart showing the location of Venus and Jupiter, 15 May 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/p>\n

By 14 May, the viewing situation won\u2019t have changed much, but the separation will, now narrowing to 26\u00b0.<\/p>\n

A thin 6%-lit waxing crescent Moon passes 3.6\u00b0 away from Venus on 19 May, moving to sit between both planets as a 13%-lit crescent on the evening of 20 May.<\/p>\n

On 21 May, the now 22%-lit lunar crescent will sit 5\u00b0 from Jupiter.<\/p>\n

\"ChartChart showing the location of Venus and Jupiter, 31 May 2026. Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/p>\n

By 31 May, the apparent separation between Jupiter and Venus will have narrowed to a little under 9\u00b0.<\/p>\n

With the evening twilight attempting to take the shine off the view, both planets thankfully remain stubbornly visible, ready for their close pass on 9 June, when they will be just 1.6\u00b0 apart.<\/p>\n

If you observe or photograph Venus and Jupiter this month, share your observations and images with us by emailing contactus@skyatnightmagazine.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Venus and Jupiter are prominent planets visible in the west after sunset throughout May 2026, and the two…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":406591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[111,139,69,147,392],"class_list":["post-406590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}