It’s really not too late to catch the spectacular show offered by Venus and Jupiter; on Monday and Tuesday evening, the two planets will appear in the sky at a distance of only three degrees – a distance which has been narrowing since early March, and is now reaching its minimum values.

Venus, Jupiter and the Moon. Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081202-venus-jupiter-photo.html

The two planets are visible on the night sky, with Venus looking brighter, because it is much closer to the Earth than Jupiter. For over 2000 years, Venus has inspired poets and artists.

Even though Jupiter might not look as bright as Venus, I really suggest looking at the sky today and tomorrow, paying extra attention to Jupiter; with nothing more than an average telescope, you can even get a glimpse of Jupiter’s 4 biggest moons.

According to astronomers, the two planets haven’t been so close to each other on the sky in years, so it would be quite a show. Venus is the second planet from the Sun, similar to Earth in terms of gravity, size and bulk composition, but with heavy sulfuric acid rains. Jupiter is the fifth planet in our solar system, and the largest one – even though it is a gas giant, it weighs 2.5 times more than all the rest of the planets in our solar system combined.