The planet Venus makes its transit across the Sun as seen from Kathmandu, Nepal. (Photo : REUTERS)
Venus and Jupiter are set to put on a sunset sky show on June 30, Tuesday, as the two planets will be only one-third of a degree apart, which is less than the diameter of the full moon, from the vantage point on Earth. The two planets will appear to be almost the same size with Jupiter seen just above Venus.
The spectacles seen in the sunset sky show are illusions considering that Venus is sitting closer to the sun and is Earth's nearest neighbour while Jupiter sits at almost five times the distance from the sun to the Earth, which is far out in the solar system, according to NASA.
Those who want to witness the Venus and Jupiter sky show are advised to step outside and look west when the sun goes down and they do not need to wait until the sky fades to black. As the two brightest planets in the night sky, Venus and Jupiter can be seen shining through the twilight.
On the nights of June 19 and June 20, looking through a telescope allowed seeing not only the fat crescent phase of Venus, the cloudtops and Jupiter's largest moons but also the rough terrain of Earth's Moon.
On June 30, Tuesday, Venus and Jupiter will be so close apart at night that they can be hidden not only behind the palm of an outstretched hand but also behind a little pinky finger. Spectators will be able to see the closest conjunction between the two planets until August 2016.
It is not rare for planets to meet one another in the night sky. In fact, Jupiter, Mercury and Venus will form a planetary threesome in October, the closest one in 2015, according to Earth Sky.
Watch a clip of what NASA calls "the best backyard sky show of 2015" here:
