May 10, 2024

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 4 March 2023: Venus and Jupiter!

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In the past few of months, Venus and Jupiter have ongoing their sluggish dance in the darkish sky. For the previous few weeks, the planets have been obvious in the early night skies, shining brightly. On March 1-2, they arrived closest to each other Ina uncommon conjunction. A planetary conjunction is in essence a see when two planets show up shut with each other in the Earth’s evening sky. This year, the vibrant planets of our photo voltaic program Jupiter and Venus appeared much closer collectively than usual.

You could have noticed Venus and Jupiter in the crystal clear night skies not long ago. It is really challenging to forget about this bright and close conjunction of these two planets. Nonetheless, in case you have skipped witnessing this scarce earth conjunction, then NASA’s shared a collage composed by astrophotographer Soumyadeep Mukherjee which exhibits the “10 Times of Venus and Jupiter” conjunction.

NASA rationalization for 10 days of Venus and Jupiter

While sharing the photograph, NASA described that “with Jupiter at the prime, beginning on February 21 and ending on March 2, their close technique is chronicled daily, remaining to right, in these panels recorded from Dhanbad, India.” Dependent on the nearby problems at sunset, the colors and exposures of the night sky are modified for every panel in the vicinity of the western horizon.

On February 22, the young crescent Moon joined Jupiter and Venus, and by March 2, the two planets appeared to be only as much apart as the width of a whole moon, the house company mentioned. However, it should really be noted that on that day, the two planets were really separated by a distance of over 600 million kilometres in their respective orbits about the Sunshine.

Venus-Jupiter conjunction is in the settling period

More than the future couple of times, Jupiter will little by little become more difficult to see because of to the brightness of the setting solar, although Venus will carry on to move absent from the Solar in the western sky and glow brightly as the distinguished evening star.


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Resource hyperlink On March 4th 2023, NASA unveiled the Astronomy Picture of the Day, which featured two celestial bodies: Venus and Jupiter. This image of the two planets was captured by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) on February 28th, 2023, and is believed to be the closest approach of the two planets in 7 years.

The image dazzles our sight with its sharp detail, vivid colors, and the contrast between the two planets. Jupiter, the larger planet of the two, appeared as the fainter of the two and can be differentiated by its whitish hue, while the brighter planet is Venus, which shone in a golden yellow hue.

March 4th provides us with an interesting time to observe the alignment of the two planets, as it is only one day after Jupiter enters the sign of Aries on March 3rd, and 13 days before the arrival of the full Moon on the 17th of March. For the lucky viewers with a clear night sky, the two planets can be seen crossing the sky from East to West.

The frequent moving of the two planets over the month of March proves to be an exciting day for keen sky watchers. This once-in-7-years alignment of Venus and Jupiter is a wonderful opportunity for everyone to witness the beauty of the night sky, as well as learning about the two planets, their physical characteristics, history, and orbit around the Sun.

It is incredible to realize that we can appreciate the distant planets of our Solar System here on Earth. As the stars twinkle and the planets move, the night sky is full of science and wonder.

Photo credit: NASA/MIT/TESS