In the early morning of the 12th, Tianyu will stage a wonderful scene of the "ultra-close encounter" between Venus and Jupiter. Astronomy experts said that as long as the weather is clear,The public looked to the eastern sky in the early morning of that day and could clearly see the two brightest planets in the solar system "closely in the same frame" with the naked eye.
Venus (brightness about -4.0 magnitude) and Jupiter (brightness about -1.9 magnitude), as the most dazzling celestial bodies in the night sky after the sun and the moon, have the opportunity to "encounter" every year. Extreme proximity occurs when their angular distance is less than 1 degree (equivalent to the width of two full moons).
However, this is not always observed. For example, although the two will be close on May 23, 2024, they will not be observed because they are too close to the sun. The last extremely close phenomena successfully observed by the public occurred on March 2, 2023 and May 1, 2022. Many photography enthusiasts captured the scene of "stars attracting".
Yang Jing, a member of the Chinese Astronomical Society and director of the Tianjin Astronomical Society, said: In August, Venus takes the lead in rising on the east-northeast horizon in the early morning, followed by Jupiter.Before the 12th, the two gradually moved closer. By the early morning of the 12th, they reached the smallest angular distance (about 0.9 degrees) in the constellation Gemini, and they looked extremely close to the naked eye. From the time the double stars rise to dawn, the public has more than two hours of leisurely observation and photography time.
"The observation time is not limited to the early morning of the 12th. It will still be visible in the early morning of the 13th," Yang Jing reminded. "At that time, the angular distance between Venus and Jupiter will still be very close, but the relative positions have changed: Venus will be on the right side of Jupiter on the 12th, and will move to its lower right on the 13th. After that, the two stars will gradually move away."
What does this rare "travel together" mean? Yang Jing explained: "This means that the public using astronomical telescopes can simultaneously appreciate the two bright stars and their details (such as the phases of Venus or the moons of Jupiter) in a very small field of view."
The next spectacle of Venus and Jupiter getting closer will occur on November 10, 2028, when the angular distance between the two will shrink to about 0.4 degrees, narrower than a full moon.
