(CNN) Jupiter and Venus will appear very close to each other in the night sky on Wednesday, as the two planets are set to pass each other in what is known as a conjunction.
Jupiter will appear to be turning west, while bright Venus will appear to be slowly moving in the other direction, NASA said.
Planetary conjunctions occur frequently because celestial bodies orbit the Sun in roughly the same plane as each other and follow similar paths across our sky.
NASA said the two planets will appear in the western sky above the horizon around 6:58 p.m. ET, as evening twilight ends on the east coast of the United States.
Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society in the United Kingdom, said they are expected to be about half a degree apart at their closest point — roughly the diameter of the full Moon.
The best time to spot a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in the United States will be in the early evening He added that the two planets will remain close to each other in the Thursday night sky. The pairing will be visible to the naked eye.
The conjunction has no particular astronomical significance, but it is an amazing sight to watch.
After the moon, Jupiter and Venus are currently the brightest objects in the sky, according to Gianluca Massi, an astronomer at the Bellatrix Astronomical Observatory in Italy and head of the Virtual Telescope Project. I have organized a Live broadcast Watch “The Qibla Between Venus and Jupiter”.
Here are the rest of the sky events for 2023, so get your binoculars and telescope ready.
full moon
The next full moon will occur on Tuesday, March 7, and that evening Venus, Jupiter, and Mars will also be visible in the night sky, NASA said. It is sometimes known as crow, shell, sap, sugar, or worm moon.
Here are the remaining full moons for 2023, according to farm calendar:
April 6th: Pink Moon
May 5: Flower Moon
June 3: Strawberry Moon
July 3: Pak Moon
August 1: Sturgeon Moon
August 30: Blue Moon
September 29: Harvest Moon
October 28: Hunter’s Moon
November 27: Beaver Moon
December 26th: Cold Moon
While these are the common names associated with the monthly moon, each one has its own name Special significance across Native American tribes (with many being referred to by different names).
There will be two solar and two lunar eclipses in 2023
There will be Two solar and two lunar eclipses in 2023.
A total solar eclipse will occur on April 20, visible to those in Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, and Antarctica. This type of event occurs when the Moon moves between the Sun and the Earth, blocking the Sun.
And for some sky-watchers in Indonesia, parts of Australia and Papua New Guinea, it will actually be a hybrid solar eclipse. The curvature of the Earth’s surface can cause some eclipses to shift between the total and the annular as the moon’s shadow moves across the globe, According to NASA.
Like a total solar eclipse, the moon passes between the sun and Earth during an annular eclipse — but it occurs when the moon is at or near its furthest point from Earth, according to NASA. This makes the moon appear smaller than the sun, so it doesn’t completely block out our star and creates a glowing ring around the moon.
A sweeping annular solar eclipse will occur in the Western Hemisphere on October 14th Visible across the Americas.
Be sure to wear appropriate eclipse glasses to view the solar eclipse safely, as sunlight can damage the eyes.
a lunar eclipse lunar eclipse It will take place on May 5th for those in Africa, Asia and Australia. This less dramatic version of a lunar eclipse occurs when the moon moves through the umbra, or the faint outer part of Earth’s shadow.
a Partial lunar eclipse of the Hunter’s Moon On October 28th it will be visible to those in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, parts of North America, and most of South America. A partial eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are not perfectly aligned, so only part of the Moon passes into the shadow.
meteor showers
Mark your calendar with the peak meteor shower dates to watch in 2023:
Lyrids: April 22-23
ETA Aquarius: May 5-6
Delta South: July 30-31
Alpha Capricorn: July 30-31
Perseids: August 12-13
Orionids: October 20-21
South Torres: November 4-5
North Torres: November 11-12
Leonids: November 17-18
Geminids: December 13-14
Ursids: December 21-22
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