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Jupiter, Venus Converge in Brilliant Cosmic Show
Jupiter, Venus Converge in Brilliant Cosmic Show
Sep 21, 2024 10:54 AM

Stargazers and astronomers have been delighting this month in what may be one of the year’s most amazing celestial shows.

But starting Tuesday night, Jupiter and Venus will be so close in the night sky they'll look like a double star, and they'll be easy to see. While the planets may appear to be colliding, they're actually far apart. Venus is 56 million miles from Earth, and Jupiter is 10 times farther out, at just over 550 million miles.

Venus, Jupiter and the moon are seen in the night sky over West Palm Beach, Florida, on June 18, 2015. (Photo Credit: Twitter/Viviana Marquez)

Since mid June, Jupiter and Venus, the brightest planets visible in the evening sky, have been converging nightly in the western sky, according to NASA. While stargazers have snapped photos for the last several days, the big event happens June 30.

For a clear view of this evening dance, you don’t have to wait until it’s completely dark, as the planets are extremely bright.

(MORE: Jupiter-Sized Planet Discovered by 15-Year-Old Intern)

This event comes on the heels of another one of 2015’s fascinating cosmic events. The moon, Venus and Mars aligned for the first time in seven years on Feb. 20.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope

An infrared composite image taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope shows the Dwarf Galaxy located about 62 million light-years from Earth. This photo was taken in 2013. (NASA)

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