| Date night for Venus and Jupiter as planets wow star gazers |
After Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon wowed stargazers with a picturesque celestial triangle last week, the show is not over.
The trio will downsize to a duo this week as the two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, continue to converge.
Southern Astronomical Society President Noeleen Lowndes says Venus is the one moving towards Jupiter while Jupiter continues at a relative snail pace.
"Venus orbits faster than Jupiter because it is in closer proximity to Earth, whereas Jupiter takes 12 years to go around the sun," Ms Lowndes said.
On Wednesday night the planetary pair will be one third of a degree away from each other, forming a rare conjunction.
The rainy weather may cloud Brisbane's full vision of the universal beauties however Night Sky Secrets Astronomer Ian Maclean is hopeful we might just get that clear window.
"The planets will be 'apparently brighter' because you are getting the combined light of the two planets side by side," Mr Maclean said.
Saturn, which appears as a bright yellow star, and the moon will also be only two degrees away from each other in the night sky.
Ms Lowndes says planets are not difficult to spot with the naked eye.
"When people look out, the exceptionally bright star light objects in the night sky are in fact planets in our universe," Ms Lowndes said.
NASA Science Production Editor Dr Anthony Philips says the planets will look like a tight, brilliant double star in the evening sky.
"You'll be able to hide the pair behind your little pinky finger outstretched at arm's length," Dr Phillips said.
Venus is about 107 million kilometres from Earth, and Jupiter is nearly 10 times farther out at 968 million kilometres.
The two planets have a history of dancing together - and will continue their two-planet tango in the future.
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