Venus-Jupiter conjunction in June: Start watching now!

See the Venus-Jupiter conjunction

As seen from all of Earth, an amazing event is coming to our evening sky. And you can start watching now! It’s spectacular conjunction of the sky’s two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter. Their closest pairing is around June 8 and 9.

Look west after sunset. As darkness falls, Venus is the first planet you’ll see. Jupiter – only slightly fainter than Venus – will appear next. It’s a bit higher than Venus in the western twilight. Watch every night as evening twilight fades, and as the planets creep closer together.

See the charts below for the moon’s passage this week past these two blazing worlds. We also show charts for the end of May, when Venus and Jupiter will be getting close!

Then wow! By June 6 or 7, the planets will be really close! And – when June 8 and 9 arrives, their evenings of closest approach – these two blazing worlds in our evening sky will be only about 1.5 degrees apart. Your pinky held at arm’s length should just fit between the two planets. Don’t miss this!

In early June, as seen from Earth’s Northern or Southern Hemisphere, the planetary pair will set more than two hours after sunset.

Optical aid will enhance the view

You definitely won’t need binoculars or a telescope to see Venus and Jupiter. They’ll outshine all the stars!

But ordinary binoculars will give you an enhanced view. When closest, Venus and Jupiter will easily fit into your binoculars’ field of view. Look for a subtle color difference, with Venus piercing white and Jupiter slightly creamier or yellowish.

With a tripod or steady hand (or by leaning against a wall or fence), your binoculars might show you one or two of Jupiter’s four largest moons. These are the famous Galilean satellites (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto). They’ll look like tiny pinpricks of light, in a line bisecting the planet.

Meanwhile, a telescope will reveal more. Venus is currently in a gibbous phase, between half and fully lit. Didn’t know Venus shows phases? It does!

Brightest vs. biggest

Jupiter and Venus look roughly the same size in our sky. But, if you could see them side by side in space, you’d find Jupiter about 12 times wider than Venus. Also, you could fit over 1,000 Venuses inside Jupiter. So why does Venus look brighter to us?

For one, Venus is much closer to us than Jupiter. Right now the two planets might look close together in our sky. But in reality they’re quite far apart. Venus is currently about 111 million miles (180 million km) from Earth. And Jupiter is much farther away at 560 million miles (900 million km) from Earth.

And here’s reason #2 why Venus looks brighter. It’s covered with thick clouds that are good at reflecting sunlight. Venus reflects about 70% of the sunlight that strikes it. Jupiter reflects about 52% of the sunlight that strikes it.

Read more: Why is Venus so bright in our Earth’s sky?

May 17-20 (Northern Hemisphere): Moon, Venus, Jupiter!

These charts are mostly set for mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.

May 19-21 (Southern Hemisphere): Moon, Venus, Jupiter!

These charts are mostly set for mid-latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. To see a precise view – and time – from your location, try Stellarium Online.

Northern and Southern Hemispheres in late May

Venus-Jupiter conjunction: What else to watch for

While watching for Venus and Jupiter, you might also notice some other bright points of light nearby.

The twin stars of Gemini, Castor and Pollux, are a bit to the north (right) of the planets. They’re not nearly as bright as Venus and Jupiter. But they’ll mimic the “doubleness” of the two planets. So they’ll be noticeable if your sky is dark enough.

And lower down, closer to the horizon, you might spot another planet, elusive Mercury. It should be fairly bright, but not nearly as bright as Venus and Jupiter.

What to watch for after June 9

After the close June 9 conjunction, Venus will appear each evening a little farther from the sunset point than Jupiter. Its greatest elongation, or greatest apparent distance from the sun in the twilight sky, will fall on August 14-15, 2026. Afterwards, Venus will drop sunward. It’ll pass between us and the sun in October, 2026, and afterwards emerge in the east before dawn.

Meanwhile, Jupiter will continue dropping steadily down toward the sunset point. It’ll pass into the sun’s glare in July, 2026, moving behind the sun from Earth. It’ll emerge in the east before dawn after about mid-August.

On June 16, a thin crescent moon will make a triangle with Jupiter and Mercury. And on June 17, the moon will be just a bit higher than Venus. Use binoculars to look between the moon and Venus in order to spot a pretty star cluster known as the Beehive. This cluster buzzing with stars lies in the constellation Cancer the Crab.

More charts to come! Stay tuned.

Bottom line: Get ready for a spectacular Venus-Jupiter conjunction! You can already start watching the planets now as they get closer in the evening sky after sunset. The big event happens on June 8 and 9, 2026.