Venus and Jupiter conjunction: How to watch the 2 brightest planets ‘kiss’ on Aug. 12
Just like the Perseid meteor shower approaches its peakTwo luminous planets enter the action of the night sky.
Venus And JupiterThe two most brilliant planets in the sky, will meet in a conjunction very early Tuesday morning (August 12). This morning, the two planets will be less than a diploma – approximately the length of your Pinkie when it is held in the sky at the length of the arm. Because they will appear near each other, you can see both simultaneously through Skywatching binoculars or a backyard telescope.
But if you want to see the conjunction, you will have to stay outside or get up early: Venus and Jupiter get up together around 3 a.m., the local time and come together around 6 a.m. However, these times vary slightly depending on your exact location. You can use Time and date To check the precise elevation and adjust the hours of your region.
Venus and Jupiter will get up in the east with the Gemini of the Constellation and will rise to about 20 degrees above the horizon before sunrise. Because they are quite low on the horizon, you will want to observe them in an area mainly flat without many trees, buildings or other obstructions in the east.
You can easily find Venus and Jupiter with the naked eye thanks to their exceptional brightness. Venus is the brightest object in the night sky, after the moon, followed by Jupiter. However, seeing these planets with a decent garden telescope or a pair of binoculars is a treat that you will not want to miss.
Jupiter and Venus Skywatching
If you look through a backyard telescope or a pair of sky observation binoculars, you will see the bands of Jupiter clouds and perhaps even its famous large red spot. The red spot, a giant storm in the bands of clouds of Jupiter which extends twice the width of the earthFacing our planet about once every 10 hours when Jupiter ends a rotation.
In relation: How to photograph the moon: advice on camera equipment, settings and composition
Jupiter’s red spot is the most visible when it crosses the meridian of Jupiter, the imaginary line between its north and southern poles. You can use this Sky & Telescope tool To see the transit times of the red point – the time it crosses the meridian.
Skys’ observation equipment also reveals hidden wonders on Venus, like its phases. Like the moon, Venus goes through phases – New, croissant, neighborhood, gibbous and full – because of its position compared to the earth and the sun.
But unlike the phases of the moon, the phases of Venus are only visible by the observation equipment of the sky. And while the moon completes all its phases in less than a month, it takes Venus 584 days.
The moon will somewhat disrupt the conditions of vision of this event. The planets are better seen in a dark and moonless sky. However, the moon of the moon the night of the conjunction will be a GIBB and approximately 90% at 95% illuminated after the peak of The complete sturgeon moonAnd will rise around 9:30 p.m. and will take place around 10 a.m.
Fortunately, however, Jupiter and Venus are brilliant enough to avoid being completely washed by the moonlight. The moon will also be far west while Venus and Jupiter will get up to the east, so you can see this conjunction far from the brilliant side of the moon. For an even better visualization experience, try to observe this conjunction from a place where the moon is obscured by trees or other obstacles that block its repression.
And if you miss this conjunction, do not worry – Venus and Jupiter will remain close for the next two nights, although they separate slowly at the end of August.
