Planet conjunction: Jupiter and Venus will “kiss” tonight

The planets Jupiter and Venus are expected to exchange a “cosmic kiss” on Thursday night as they appear side by side in the sky.

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The two stars have been following the same trajectory since Wednesday evening. Jupiter has moved west, while Venus continues its course in the other direction.

Attention skygazers: Witness Venus and Jupiter hanging out like two peas in a pod! At twilight today (March 1), catch the pair above the western horizon during sunset and just a little bit following. Details on this and other events: https://t.co/Dz0MN3F6D0 pic.twitter.com/qXAagzI6aU

— NASA (@NASA) March 1, 2023

Budding astronomers will be able to see this exchange between the planets around 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time, shortly following sunset. Venus will be located to the right and Jupiter to the left.

A live event will also be streamed online.

Venus and Jupiter are getting closer and closer as the weeks go by. They will create a conjunction, that is to say an event in which the two stars seem very close, in the sky.

This event is not very rare since Jupiter and Venus cross every year.

Obviously, the planets will not actually touch. “650 million kilometers separate them,” says Jackie Faherty, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History.

According to information from New York Post