The month of March kicks off with a detailed conjunction of two brilliant naked-eye planets: Venus and Jupiter. The pair will seem closest for U.S. observers within the night sky on March 1, main as much as the true second of conjunction early on the 2nd, after the planets have set.
Keen skywatchers can get began shortly earlier than sundown on Wednesday, as Venus will start to face out towards the background sky even earlier than the Solar has set. The intense (magnitude –3.9) planet seems roughly 30° above the western horizon at sundown and has sunk to half that altitude an hour later. Jupiter seems simply 30′ to Venus’ higher left (southeast); at magnitude –2.1, it ought to seem shortly after sundown, once more even whereas the sky stays brilliant. See how lengthy after sundown it takes so that you can make out the second brilliant pinprick of sunshine towards the fading twilight.
Each are brilliant sufficient to see simply with the bare eye. If you wish to use magnification, don’t look via binoculars, a telescope, or some other optical instrument till the Solar has totally set out of your observing web site; observe this may increasingly happen earlier than or after the time listed on this article, relying in your location.
Nonetheless, as soon as the Solar is under the horizon, you may safely use binoculars or a telescope to benefit from the pair. Any telescope will provide a superb view, and observing whereas the sky remains to be considerably gentle affords the advantage of holding Venus’ brilliant glare from overpowering the scene. Use low magnification and a discipline of view about 1° throughout to comfortably seize each planets on the identical time. Such a view affords some distinctive perception into the structure of our solar system and the worlds inside it.
