Venus and Jupiter shine together overnight, here's how to watch the spectacle live online

News
By
published

In reality, the planets are hundreds of millions of miles apart, but they will appear in the sky right next to each other.

A diagram showing Venus and Jupiter in conjunction in the predawn sky over Rome, Italy, on May 1, 2022.
A diagram showing Venus and Jupiter in conjunction in the predawn sky over Rome, Italy, on May 1, 2022. (Image credit: Starry Night)

The planets Venus and Jupiter will meet in the night sky tonight and tomorrow morning in a stunning optical illusion known as a conjunction. 

And if you don't have access to a dark sky or a physical telescope to watch the spectacle firsthand, you can tune into a livestream by the Virtual Telescope Project to watch it live in detail. 

The live feed will start on April 30 at 11 p.m. EDT (on May 1 at 0300 GMT) through the Virtual Telescope Project, which is operated from Cecceno, near Rome, Italy.

Related: Venus and Jupiter align this week in spectacular morning sky shows

This particular conjunction brings the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, within one-half degree of each other in the sky, equivalent to the apparent width of the moon. This is the closest Venus and Jupiter have appeared since August 2016; the next time the two planets will appear to cozy up to each other will be March 1, 2023. 

Of course, in reality, the two planets are hundreds of millions miles apart. Venus, Earth's closest neighbor and the second closest planet to the sun will be about 90.3 million miles (145.4 million kilometers) from Earth during the conjunction, while Jupiter is nearly six times farther away at 530 million miles (852.8 million km).

Related stories:

— 4 planets align over Manhattan in dazzling Good Friday parade (photo)
— The brightest planets in May's night sky: How and when to see them
— April's sky brings dance of 4 morning planets: See Jupiter, Venus, Mars and Saturn. 

The closest visual approach on the plane of the sky will take place Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT), but the duo will be outshone by the sun at that time. 

During the encounter, Venus will be substantially brighter, at magnitude -4.1, while Jupiter will shine at magnitude -2.1, which is about one sixth as bright as Venus. 

For skywatchers in the U.S. who get inspired by the livestream, the best time to spot the planetary duo close together will be before sunrise on Sunday (May 1) as the planets will begin to edge away from each other in coming days.

Follow us on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.

Tereza Pultarova
Tereza Pultarova
Senior Writer

Tereza is a London-based science and technology journalist, aspiring fiction writer and amateur gymnast. Originally from Prague, the Czech Republic, she spent the first seven years of her career working as a reporter, script-writer and presenter for various TV programmes of the Czech Public Service Television. She later took a career break to pursue further education and added a Master's in Science from the International Space University, France, to her Bachelor's in Journalism and Master's in Cultural Anthropology from Prague's Charles University. She worked as a reporter at the Engineering and Technology magazine, freelanced for a range of publications including Live Science, Space.com, Professional Engineering, Via Satellite and Space News and served as a maternity cover science editor at the European Space Agency.