Venus and Jupiter appeared very close on the night sky giving a spectacular conjunction at the beginning of March. As Venus, Earth and Jupiter rotate around the Sun at different speeds, their relative positions change with time. As a result of this cosmic dance, Jupiter and Venus sometimes appear very close to each other on the sky, although in reality they are very far away from each other.
Dr Mark Norris observed this astronomic event for UCLAN’s Alston Observatory just as the clouds where about to cover the Jupiter-Venus pair on the sky.
UCLAN’s Professor Emeritus Don Kurtz, currently Extra-ordinary Professor at North-West University in South Africa, observed the conjunction from South Africa (at latitude -33 degrees).
Finally, a picture at a latitude of +33 degrees (US, Northern Hemisphere) taken by John Goss from EarthSky, shows how the phenomenon is affected by the latitude where the observation is made. Note how angle of the line between them on the sky appears to be different at different latitudes.
Finally, a picture from Dicken Winyard in London.
