Photo above: View full image at EarthSky Community Photos. | Venus and Jupiter – bright in the western twilight sky, shortly after sunset – from our friend Dr Ski in the Philippines on November 20, 2019.
Wow! The sky’s two brightest planets – Venus and Jupiter – are now drawing closer together in the west after sunset. A conjunction between the two planets will happen on November 24, 2019. Venus, the brighter planet as seen in Earth’s sky, will pass a scant 1.4 degrees south of Jupiter. For reference, that’s about three moon-diameters, or about the width of your index finger held at arm’s length.
To maximize your enjoyment of these dazzling worlds – and especially if you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, where the two now appear low in the western twilight sky – be sure find an unobstructed horizon in the direction of sunset.
No matter where you are on Earth, Venus and Jupiter will be the first objects in the sky to pop out at dusk. They’ll follow the sun below your horizon as twilight gives way to dark.
The last Venus-Jupiter conjunction happened 10 months ago, on January 22, 2019, and the next one will occur on February 11, 2021. There will be no Venus-Jupiter conjunction in 2020.
So this is a relatively rare event. Don’t miss it.
See photos of Venus and Jupiter from the EarthSky community.
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It should be grand viewing Venus and Jupiter around the time of their conjunction on November 24, 2019. After all, Venus and Jupiter rank as the 3rd-brightest and 4th-brightest heavenly bodies, respectively, after the sun and moon.
Watch for the young moon to fly by Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in late November 2019. Afterwards, Jupiter will sink downward and will disappear in the sun’s glare by around mid-December 2019. Venus, meanwhile, will climb upward, away from the sunset, to reign as a dazzling “evening star” throughout the first part of 2020.
We can all see Venus and Jupiter now. The key to seeing them is to go outside very soon after the sun goes down. The planets will quickly follow the sun below the western horizon. Here are the approximate setting times for Venus and Jupiter at various latitudes across the globe:
35 degrees north latitude
Venus and Jupiter set about 1 hour and 40 minutes after sunsetEquator (0 degrees latitude)
Venus and Jupiter set about 1 hour and 50 minutes after sunset35 degrees south latitude
Venus and Jupiter set about 2 hours after sunset
Want more specific information? Click here for a recommended sky almanac.
You might catch Venus popping out into the evening twilight some 30 minutes (or less) after sunset, and then see Jupiter coming out 15 or so minutes after Venus first appears. The twosome should be pretty easy to see with the eye alone about one hour after sunset. But you can always use binoculars to spot these embracing worlds all the sooner after sundown.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Peter Lowenstein in Mutare, Zimbabwe, captured this image on November 18, 2019. He wrote: “A break in the weather after the onset of the rains provided a good Southern Hemisphere view of Jupiter (above) and bright Venus (below) getting closer together in the twilight sky. Antares is also faintly visible (lower left).” Thank you, Peter! The planets after sunset now are most easily viewed from Earth’s Southern Hemisphere, where the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – makes a steep angle with the sunset horizon.
The interval between successive Venus-Jupiter conjunctions can be as little as 10 months or as long as 15 months. The mean interval is 13 months. Most of the time, there is one and only one Venus-Jupiter conjunction in one calendar year (though it is possible to have none). The year 2019 stands as an exception because two Venus-Jupiter conjunctions happen in one year. These two different conjunctions occur 10 months apart, allowing for a Venus-Jupiter conjunction on January 22, 2019, and then again on November 24, 2019.
It appears that similar Venus-Jupiter conjunctions recur in periods of about 24 years plus one week, whereby Venus and Jupiter return to nearly the same place relative to the sun, the stars of the zodiac, and the horizon. Hence, similar Venus-Jupiter conjunctions occurred 24 years ago (January 14 and November 19, 1995) and will again take place 24 years from now (January 29 and November 29, 2043):
1995 January 14 (morning sky)
1995 November 19 (evening sky)2019 January 22 (morning sky)
2019 November 24 (evening sky)2043 January 29 (morning sky)
2043 November 29 (evening sky)
Roughly midway between these twofold Venus-Jupiter conjunction years (1995, 2019 and 2043), we find two Venus-Jupiter conjunctions in 2008 – and then 24 years later, two Venus-Jupiter conjunctions in 2032.
2008 February 1 (morning sky)
2008 December 1 (evening sky)2032 February 7 (morning sky)
2032 December 8 (evening sky)
The elongation (angular separation of the Venus-Jupiter conjunction from the sun) was 46 degrees west of the sun on January 22, 2019, and 26 degrees east of the sun on November 24, 2019. The elongations are more or less similar (within a few degrees) throughout the series: 1995, 2019 and 2043.
Interestingly, the elongations are similar – yet reversed – in these in-between years of 2008 and 2032. In 1995, 2019 and 2043, the year’s first conjunction in the morning sky showcases the conjunction near its maximum possible elongation from the sun (46 degrees west); yet, in the years 2008 and 2032, it’s the year’s second conjunction in the evening sky that presents the conjunction near maximum elongation (46 degrees east).
Want more details? Visit the Heavens-Above planet summary or enter your location and select Planets on the Heavens-Above home page. For an interactive online chart of the night sky for any location and time, visit Stellarium.
(Note: When Venus is near inferior conjunction, Venus can actually conjunct Jupiter three times in four months. Venus first meets up with Jupiter going prograde (eastward in front of the stars), a second time when going retrograde (westward in front of the stars), and finally a third time when going prograde (eastward) again. For our purposes, we’re calling this three-peat performance a “single” event. This special type of triple conjunction last happened in 2015 and will next take place in 2036.)
Because Venus and Jupiter beam as the third-brightest and fourth-brightest celestial bodies, respectively (after the sun and moon), Venus-Jupiter conjunctions are particularly spectacular and photogenic.
By the way, if you’re an early morning person, use the waning crescent moon to find the planets Mars and Mercury in the predawn/dawn sky right now, as shown on the sky chart below.
If you’re an early bird, waking up before the sun, then use the moon, the star Regulus and the star Spica to help you envision the ecliptic with the mind’s eye, and to find Mars and Mercury. Read more.
Bottom line: Witness the grand conjunction of Venus and Jupiter near the sunset point on the horizon as evening dusk deepens into nightfall. The conjunction itself is November 24, 2019. Any evening around then – especially the evenings before the conjunction – would be a wonderful time to view them.
Source:
https://earthsky.org/tonight/venus-jupiter-conjunction-on-november-24