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Bright planets Venus-Jupiter 2023: Great photos here

Three people with cameras on tripods, silhouetted in sunset and two close points of light above.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Marek Nikodem captured this image on March 1, 2023, from near Szubin, Poland. Marek wrote: “Venus and Jupiter glitter so clearly, they are like beautiful diamonds in the sky. It is an amazing and unique view. A group of my friends and I ventured away from the city to have a pristine view of this rare astronomical event. We were mesmerized by this celestial show.” Thank you, Marek!

Bright planets: Venus and Jupiter conjunction photos

Thank you to all who submit images to EarthSky Community Photos! View community photos here. We love you all. Submit your photo here.

Ten vertical panels showing the daily positions of Venus and Jupiter nearing conjunction.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Soumyadeep Mukherjee of Dhanbad, India, captured these photos of Venus and Jupiter heading toward conjunction on March 1-2, 2023, and wrote: “For the last couple of weeks, Venus and Jupiter have stolen the attention of astrophotographers! They were inching close to one another, slowly but surely. I was lucky enough to capture their relative movement for the last 10 days. Another interesting find for me was the ever changing hue of the sky after sunset! They do add a lot to the final image.” Thank you, Soumyadeep.
Palm tree by rocky shore and ocean with two bright lights in the sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Tina Clothier of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, captured this image of Venus and Jupiter on March 1, 2023, and wrote: “I had hoped to see the planets shine on the water, just above the horizon, but the moon was rising, so I settled for this blue hour shot and went home.” Thank you, Tina.
Venus and Jupiter close, with an inset showing Jupiter's moons.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Joel Weatherly in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, captured Venus and Jupiter at their closest – only about a moon-diameter apart – on March 1, 2023. He wrote: “This evening the 2 brightest planets in our skies, Venus and Jupiter, appeared 29.4′ apart. While clouds got in the way, it was still a stunning pairing. Despite planetary detail being lost to the clouds, 3 of Jupiter’s moons, Io, Ganymede, and Callisto, were visible.” What a sight! Thank you, Joel!
Light blue sky with clouds and 2 white lights through the clouds.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sheryl R. Garrison captured this image from Southern Alberta, Canada, on March 1, 2023. Sheryl wrote: “It was a race against the clouds, but thankfully they cleared enough for me to catch the Jupiter and Venus conjunction shining brightly in the western sky. Thanks EarthSky for keeping us informed of these interesting celestial events.” Thank you, Sheryl!
Looking up at the sky framed by tree branches, one bright and one dimmer light side by side.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Irina Hynes in Riverside, Illinois, captured this image of the Jupiter and Venus conjunction on March 1, 2023. Thank you, Irina!
Four panels showing the progression of the 2 dots closer together.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Gene Hettel in Calamba, Philippines, captured these images of the progression of the conjunction. Gene wrote: “Jupiter and Venus get closer together over 4 evenings from 27 February to 2 March. Shot from the exact same location and roughly the same time.” Thank you, Gene!

Planet photos leading up to the conjunction

Dark street with streetlight and house and 2 points of light through trees above.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cathy Adams in St. Stephen, Canada, captured this image on February 27, 2023. Cathy wrote: “Our skies are not looking too promising for this week’s conjunction, but I was able to get a nice look at Jupiter and Venus tonight :)” Thank you, Cathy!
On the left above a snowy expanse are two bright lights and on the right are colorful curtains in the sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Sheryl R. Garrison captured this image from Southern Alberta, Canada, on February 26, 2023. Sheryl wrote: “Early Sunday evening the aurora borealis wasn’t the only thing lighting up the night sky. I caught Venus and Jupiter getting closer to their conjunction. A gorgeous night to have clear skies!” Thank you, Sheryl!
Purplish sky with 2 bright lights labeled Jupiter and Venus.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Chuck Reinhart in Vincennes, Indiana, captured this image on February 25, 2023. Chuck wrote: “Jupiter and Venus after sunset. I’ve enjoyed watching the 2 planets move closer to each other every day.” Thank you, Chuck!
Cloud with Venus and Jupiter labeled nearby.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Roberto Burkle captured this image on February 24, 2023, from Playa del Carmen, Mexico. Roberto wrote: “A few days before conjunction.” Thank you, Roberto!

Venus and Jupiter by the moon

Boat resting in water at sunset with 2  lights above and moon at top.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Petr Horálek in Thoddoo, Maldives, captured this image of February 23, 2023. Petr wrote: “One more day, one more evening, one more romantic moment. After 24 hours, the moon moved away from the planetary duo of Jupiter and Venus and created a beautiful line with the planets. This time even cirrus clouds appeared and magnified dramatic dusk colors. I couldn’t resist and took this very simple portrait of the whole scene over a boat on the shore of Thoddoo Island.” Thank you, Petr!
Three images in showing 2 starlike objects and the moon over 3 days.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Ji-Hoon Kim of Seoul, Korea, captured images of the moon, Venus and Jupiter over 3 evenings and wrote: “From February 21 to 23, 2023, in Seoul, Korea, there was a meeting between the moon and the planets… If you look closely at the picture, you can see the change in the moon’s movement at a glance.” Thank you, Ji-Hoon!
Crescent moon with bright Jupiter below it and tiny dots for its moons. Inset of crescent moon in lavender sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | EarthSky’s own Raúl Cortes in Monterrey, Mexico, captured this image on February 22, 2023. Raul wrote: “I made a composite out of 2 photos. The main photo shows a zoomed-in view of the moon and Jupiter with the Galilean moons. In order from top to bottom, they are Ganymede, Io, Europa and Callisto. The inset is at sunset showing the moon and the 2 planets, Jupiter and Venus.” Thank you, Raúl!

More of Venus and Jupiter with the moon

Person looking at a small crescent moon with two bright points nearby in medium-blue sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Soumyadeep Mukherjee in Dhanbad, India, captured this image on February 22, 2023. Soumyadeep wrote: “The moon, Venus and Jupiter coming together in the evening sky presented a wonderful opportunity to image them at the blue hour.” Thank you, Soumyadeep!
Sunset over cityscape with clouds and blue sky showing crescent moon, Venus and Jupiter and an airplane.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steve Christle in Orange, California, captured this image on February 22, 2023, and wrote: “A Southwest flight passes by the moon Venus and Jupiter after sunset this evening.” Thank you, Steve!
Sky fading from pink to dark blue with 2 tiny bright points at top and bottom. Crescent moon near horizon.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Riste Spiroski in Skopje, Macedonia, captured this image on February 21, 2023. Riste wrote: “Today I was amazed by this close meeting between the planets and the moon. I was waiting for the right moment to capture it and little did I know, I captured birds in the frame that made a small place for the moon to stay clear, which made the composition even better.” Thank you, Riste!

The bright planets from mid-February

Pink sunset with crescent moon at bottom and 2 bright dots spaced out above, through pink clouds.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Larry Pal in Daytona Beach, Florida, captured this image of the crescent moon with Venus and Jupiter on February 21, 2023. Thank you, Larry!
Nightsky with dark horizon in the foreground. Fuzzy cone of light and 2 bright planets.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Michael Flynn captured this image on February 19, 2023, near Pine Mountain Club, California. He wrote: “The zodiacal light over the Pacific … at the top of the image is the Pleiades star cluster; at the bottom of the image are the planets Jupiter and Venus setting into the light pollution and marine layer.” Thank you, Michael!
A beach scene with sand and palmetto, with very bright Venus and Jupiter above in dark sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Lorie Pilster wrote from Marco Island, Florida, to say she’d captured Venus (below) and Jupiter on February 19, 2023. Thank you, Lorie!

More from mid-February

Silhouette of a girl pointing toward bright planets Venus and Jupiter in deep purple sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Jean-Baptiste Feldmann – with the help of Christine – in Gleizé, France, captured this image on February 18, 2023, and wrote: “We can easily admire each evening the splendid rapprochement of the planets Jupiter (above) and Venus.” Thank you, Jean-Baptiste!
Cityscape at night, row of trees in foreground, with labeled Venus and Jupiter in the sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Kannan A in Singapore captured this image of Venus and Jupiter on February 16, 2023, and wrote: “Jupiter and Venus shining bright in the west skies about 45 minutes after sunset. The pair was clearly visible to the unaided eyes and will be nearing conjunction in the beginning of March 2023.” Thank you, Kannan!
Deep blue sky with 2 bright lights over silhouetted hill and roof in foreground.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Gilbert Gomez in Strasburg, Virginia, captured this image on February 15, 2023, and wrote: “Photo of Jupiter (above) and Venus, taken with cellphone camera.” Thank you, Gilbert!

Venus and Jupiter in early February

Empty beach chairs on a dark beach with an orange glow on the horizon and 2 dots in the sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Patricio Leon in Cachagua, Chile, captured this image on February 14, 2023. Notice how Jupiter is above and to the right of Venus, as seen from Chile? Presently, it’s above and to the left of Venus as seen from our northerly latitudes. As seen from various parts of Earth, the ecliptic – or path of the sun, moon and planets – slants differently. Patricio wrote: “By the seaside, Venus and Jupiter are seen closing in toward their March 1 conjunction, the present angular separation is about 15 degrees. Fomalhaut takes part in the scene at left of the planets, and Diphda above them.” Thank you, Patricio!
Sunset colors over lake and pier stumps with 2 labeled dots marking Venus and Jupiter in the sky.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Riste Spiroski captured this image on February 13, 2023. Riste wrote: “The bright planets Jupiter and Venus setting along with the sun at the oldest lake in Europe, Lake Ohrid in Macedonia.” Thank you, Riste!
Orange glow on horizon at right with 2 bright dots, 1 near horizon and 1 upper left.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Cecille Kennedy in Rocky Creek State Park, Oregon, captured this image on February 11, 2023. Cecille wrote: “Venus and Jupiter shine very bright and beautiful in the evening sky. Venus is about to set on the ocean horizon and has turned a surreal reddish orange. The glowing light on the right is a fishing boat with sodium lights.” Thank you, Cecille!

More conjunction photos from our community

Building in foreground with sunset behind and above are 2 bright dots, 1 high and 1 low.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Lisa Ann Fanning captured this image of Venus and Jupiter on February 10, 2023. Lisa Ann wrote: “Cape May, New Jersey, is world famous for its sunsets, and tonight did not disappoint! As the sunset wrapped up, Jupiter (top) and Venus (below) started to shine brightly! A beautiful moment by the beach!” Thank you, Lisa Ann.
Venus and Jupiter in purple twilight sky, in a tropical setting, above an ocean.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Stephen Humphrey in Punta Mala, Costa Rica, captured this image of Venus and Jupiter on February 8, 2023. Thanks, Stephen!
Two bright dots and a crescent moon. Huge pyramid below. Blue sky at the top and pink at the bottom.
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Osama Fathi in Giza, Egypt, captured this image of the crescent moon, Jupiter and Venus above the Great Pyramid of Giza. Osama named this photo “Cosmic love above the pyramids.” Thank you, Osama!

Submit your photos of the Venus and Jupiter conjunction to EarthSky Community Photos.

Bright planets conjunction March 1-2

Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest planets visible from Earth. And – throughout February 2023 – they were easy to spot in the sunset direction during evening twilight. Indeed, dazzling Venus and bold Jupiter crept closer together throughout February, with Venus shining as the brighter world. Around the evenings of February 21 and 22, we saw a spectacular scene in the evening twilight, as the young moon – a waxing crescent – joined the show. Then the big event came. Their conjunction – when they passed within a moon-diameter on the sky’s dome – happened at 11 UTC (5 a.m. CST) on March 2, 2023.

At conjunction, Venus passed 0.5 degrees (the width of a full moon) from Jupiter. It was a stunning sight.

On March 1-2, Venus and Jupiter fit inside a single binocular field of view. Afterwards, Venus will be higher in the sky as Jupiter sinks toward the horizon and the sun.

Last chance to get a moon phase calendar! Only a few left.

How bright are the bright planets?

They are very, very bright, indeed! To be sure, you still can’t miss them if you look west after sunset. Both outshine all the stars.

In fact, Venus ranks as the 3rd-brightest natural body in the sky, after the sun and moon. Venus is so dazzlingly bright that some sharp-sighted people can spot it in daylight.

By the way, the view changes with time depending on your location on the globe. With this in mind, for a more precise star chart from your location, try Stellarium.

Spacecraft closeup photos of Venus and Jupiter.
Venus and Jupiter both are covered with clouds, although the clouds of Venus are more highly reflective than those of Jupiter. Plus Venus is closer to us. That’s why it’s brighter! But both Venus and Jupiter are very, very bright in our sky … brighter than any of the stars. Image of Venus via NASA/ JPL-Caltech. Image of Jupiter via NASA/JPL-Caltech/ SwRI/ MSSS. Image processing by Tanya Oleksuik. CC BY 2.0.

Why are they so bright?

Venus is about the same size and density as Earth. It orbits one step inward from Earth around the sun. It’s the brightest planet visible from Earth, but why? Sure, it’s relatively close to us. But, also, Venus is covered with highly reflective clouds. The clouds of Venus are good at reflecting sunlight. That’s the main reason the planet looks bright to us!

On the other hand, Jupiter looks bright mainly by virtue of its size. Jupiter is the 5th planet in orbit outward from our sun. It’s way out there, much farther than Venus, past the asteroid belt. But Jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system. With a radius of 43,441 miles (69,911 km), Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Jupiter would be about as big as a basketball. Sure, it’s far away … five times farther from the sun than Earth. But Jupiter’s size makes it bright!

Here’s what happened, in a chart

Horizon view with steep green ecliptic line and large and small dot next to each other near ground.
On March 1-2, 2023, Venus and Jupiter slid past each other on the dome of the sky. As seen from the Americas, their closest pairing was shortly after sunset on March 1. Notably, they passed approximately a full moon’s width, or half a degree, apart. Chart by John Goss/ EarthSky.

Bottom line: The March 1-2 conjunction of the bright planets Venus and Jupiter has ended. Great photos from EarthSky’s community here.

For more great observing events in the coming weeks, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide

Posted 
March 3, 2023
 in 
Tonight

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