Skygazers have the opportunity to see two bright planets appear close together, even though they are millions of miles apart. Cosmic pleasure shows Aphrodite and Zeus lining up as they rise above the horizon and just before the Sun follows after them. The peak time to see this planetary meeting, which occurs once every few years, was between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. of Saturday, but can still be spotted on Sunday and the following days, as the planets are slowly moving away. Although the planets appear to be lined up from Earth, they will not actually be in this position in space. Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, said: “In this case you have Venus and Jupiter (appearing) close to each other and because they are both bright, that’s a nice sight.” In this case you have Venus and Jupiter (appear) close and because they are both bright, this is a nice sight Dr Robert Massey, Royal Astronomical Society He said: “It’s fun. It’s scientifically important – not really – but it does offer a nice spectacle. “I think the nice thing about it is that with just one eyepiece telescope you can see the two planets together, which is an unusual view.” He added: “Although they look close, Venus is about 150 million kilometers away at the moment and Jupiter is 740 million kilometers away.” We need a clear eastern horizon to see the event. Buildings, trees and hills will make it much harder to see as they will look quite low in the sky. Viewers in the UK will have a hard time trying to see it from people further south in southern Europe, Africa or Australia, as the planets will be seen much higher in the sky before sunrise. Dr Massey said that in the United Kingdom “it would be better to stop looking at the sunrise so that you do not look at the sun which is bad for your eyes”. Then, as soon as the sun rises, it will be “practically impossible” to see the event. He said: “You can try to locate the planets with binoculars (use an online star map to find where to look), but you should only do it before sunrise, as looking at the Sun with binoculars or a telescope can cause serious damage to your eyes – just like looking at the Sun with your eyes only “. Met Office meteorologist Craig Snell said: “Venus and Jupiter will not be visible in the sky until sunrise on Sunday morning, by which time most of England and Wales will be cloudy. “There is a small chance the southeast will still have some cloud breaks, but the best chance will be across northern Scotland.”
