Article Posted on : - Dec 01, 2008

File photo of Venus and Jupiter converging over Hawaii on Nov 19, 2008. Photo credit Stephen O'Meara

NEW DELHI (PTI): As the sun goes down in the evening, step outside and look southwest to see a celestial phenomenon.

The three-way conjunction of Venus, Jupiter and the Crescent Moon will be spectacular event for sky gazers in the next few days.

With the exception of the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest source of light in the heaven, and Jupiter comes a close second, Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE), President Chander Bhushan Devgun told PTI.

In the evening sky, sky watchers can see Venus and Jupiter getting close to each other as they circle the Sun.
Conjunction is a term used in positional astronomy. It means that, as seen from the Earth, two celestial bodies appear near one another in the sky, he said.

The celestial triangle will be visible from all parts of the world, even from light-polluted cities. People in New York and Hong Kong will see it just as clearly as astronomers watching from remote mountaintops. Only cloudy weather or a midnight sun can spoil the show, Devgun said.

The great conjunction offers something extra to Europeans. For more than an hour this evening, the crescent moon will eclipse Venus.

Astronomers call such an event a "lunar occultation".

"Venus emerging from the dark edge of the moon is a remarkably beautiful sight", Devgun said.