The brilliant Venus and Jupiter were in conjunction on the evening of March 2, 2023. Their superb pairing has been photographed many times. The phenomenon, visible to the naked eye, will be back on the evening of March 3.
It was a brilliant meeting just above our heads: Venus and Jupiter gave each other a “kiss” on the evening of Wednesday March 1, 2023. Their idyll is not over: we will be able to admire them very close again in the evening. Thursday, March 2. While waiting for this new opportunity to contemplate them, we can already enjoy superb photos taken during the Wednesday evening.
Unlike some astronomical phenomena that require a very dark sky to be seen, the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter was visible to the naked eye even in the middle of town. This was the case from Paris. We thus admire the pair of planets on either side of the Eiffel Tower on cliches splendid paintings by astronomer Josselin Desmars, from the Paris observatory.
Even the flashes of a wind power station were not enough to attenuate the brilliance of these two planets, here in the Somme.
The lucky ones, whose window was facing west, were even able to take advantage of the warm conjunction, without leaving their homes.
The idyll of Venus, Jupiter… and the Galilean moons
If you have binoculars, you can even use them to try to see the main satellites of Jupiter: its Galilean moons, named Callisto, Ganymede, Jupiter and Europa. These are the tiny dots that can be seen in the next snapshotnot far from the beautiful Venus.
Obviously, the proximity between the two planets is not what seems. Currently, Venus is 205 million km from us, while Jupiter is much further away, 865 million km from Earth. But, from our point of view, the two planets began a rapprochement on February 22.
The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter is back tonight
If you missed the conjunction, another opportunity presents itself tonight, Thursday March 3 from 6:40 p.m. The two planets are always in the constellation of Pisces, towards the west. They are visible to the naked eye until 8:40 p.m. The configuration changes slightly, as this time Venus sits slightly above Jupiter.
Don’t miss the other astronomical shows of March 2023 either: the zodiacal light, the Moon or the other planets.
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