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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Abbie Meehan

Jupiter and Venus to meet in Edinburgh skies this week - here's how to spot them

Scotland was privileged to take in the wonderful sights of the aurora borealis in recent days as people watched in awe at the spectacular display in the night-time sky.

The Northern Lights will be back in tremendous fashion again tonight, with many travelling to high points of the capital and beyond to get a better view of the dancing waves of light. However, this phenomenon isn't the only beautiful display Edinburgh will see this week.

There is set to be a planetary conjunction between Jupiter and Venus at the beginning of March. A planetary conjunction is an occasion where two planets appear to meet in the same part of the sky.

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And on March 1 and 2, Venus and Jupiter will be less than one degree apart in the sky. That's equivalent to the width of your pinkie when held out at arm's length.

According to Space.com, Jupiter will be blazing twice as bright as Sirius (the brightest star in the sky) and Venus will gleam six times brighter than Jupiter.

The two planets will then begin to go their separate ways again after tomorrow evening, but will continue to make for a stunning sight until around March 10.

This means that the people of Edinburgh will be able to spot two unbelievable sights in the night sky this week - the meeting of Jupiter and Venus, and the aurora borealis.

When is the best time to spot Jupiter and Venus in the sky?

The planets will appear to join together on Wednesday, March 1 at 6.45pm - the perfect time to get the camera out to spot the sky display.

According to ScienceFocus.com, Venus and Jupiter will remain close on March 2, just 45 arcminutes apart. Venus will move now above Jupiter, appearing to ‘overtake’ the gas giant.

And from March 3 onwards, Venus will move away from Jupiter, as the altitude of the gas giant begins to decrease in the evening sky.

Jupiter will sink into the Sun’s glare before reaching solar conjunction (on the opposite side of the Sun to the Earth) on April 11, 2023.

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