As March begins, Chicagoans will be in for a special sight in the skies this week, according to the Adler Planetarium.
The Venus-Jupiter conjunction was labeled "perhaps the most photogenic planetary pairing of the year", where the two brightest planets of the solar system appear to be next to each other.
According to the planetarium, Venus and Jupiter will appear less than half-a-degree apart shortly after sunset, visible in the low west-southwest sky.
The distance visible to the naked eye is about one-quarter the width of your thumb stretched out at arms length, according to the planetarium.
Although the two planets are the brightest when seen from Earth, Venus will appear to be the brighter planet in this planetary pairing.
On Thursday evening, the planets will appear less than one degree apart, or about one-half your thumb’s width stretched out at arms length.
During this event, Venus will appear to be slightly higher in the night sky than Jupiter. As the two move further apart each evening, Venus will appear to ascend while Jupiter will appear to drop closer to the sun.
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According to the planetarium, both planets will also slowly slide to the west as the month progresses.
More information on the conjunction and other upcoming celestial events can be found here.
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