Venus and Jupiter to be visible in Thai skies for the next few nights
Stargazers will be happy to hear that Venus and Jupiter will be visible in Thai skies for the next few nights, according to the National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand (NARIT).
NARIT said the two planets will almost touch each other in the night sky on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, Nation Thailand reported. The institute said Venus and Jupiter will be visible to the naked eye at their closest conjunction and can be viewed on all three nights if the skies are clear.
The two planets have been slowly moving closer together over the past month and are now easy to spot in the Western skies after sunset from twilight onwards.
The conjunction of Venus and Jupiter will be visible on the Western horizon from sunset until around 8pm from every part of Thailand, NARIT said. The planets will move close to the constellation of Pisces.
Narit explained that the planets will appear in different configurations on the three nights.
On March 1, Jupiter will be seen approximately 0.8 degrees above Venus. On March 2, Venus will be seen side by side with Jupiter approximately 0.6 degrees apart. On March 3, Venus will be seen approximately 1.4 degrees above Jupiter. The two planets will start drifting apart from each other on March 4.
It’s worth noting that Venus is the third brightest natural body in the sky after the Sun and Moon. Be sure to keep an eye on the night sky over the next few nights to catch this stunning celestial event.
Venus is the second planet from the Sun and Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun. Venus is often called Earth’s “sister planet” because it is similar in size and composition to Earth.
Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field of any planet in the Solar System. The planet also has between 80 and 92 moons.
Both Venus and Jupiter have been visited by spacecraft. NASA’s Mariner 2 was the first spacecraft to fly by Venus in 1962, while Jupiter has also been visited by several spacecraft.
