Ahmedabad: Venus, Jupiter conjunction to light up skies on June 9

Ahmedabad: Venus and Jupiter, two of the brightest planets in the solar system, will come very close to each other ‘visually’ in the Earth’s sky on June 9, say state-based scientists. It will be the closest visible Venus-Jupiter approach until late 2028, they added.

Dr Narottam Sahoo, science communicator, told TOI that the conjunction — a term used to describe two or more celestial bodies in a very limited space in the sky — will be visible soon after sunset.

“One should look towards the western direction or the setting Sun about 20-45 minutes after sunset, where they will see two very bright dots very close to each other. The brighter one is Venus. Although the two planets will appear very close from Earth’s perspective, they remain separated by nearly 670 million kilometres in space. Their apparent meeting is a result of the constantly changing positions of planets as they orbit the Sun,” he said, adding that no telescope or equipment is required.

Scientists have urged citizens to observe the conjunction to develop interest in astronomy and as an introduction to the fascinating world of skygazing and the solar system.