On February 1, the solar system's brightest planets appear closest together.
Francis Reddy
.jpg&w=250) Jupiter joined Venus (left) for an early morning rendezvous in November 2004. Here, the pair gleams over Bursa and Uludag, Turkey, before dawn. A similar sight awaits early risers throughout late January and early February. Tunç Tezel [View Larger Image] Venus, the planet nearest to Earth, and Jupiter, the solar system's biggest world, are headed for a morning meeting. As the brightest planets in the sky, the pair makes a conspicuous sight in eastern twilight. During the next week, watch Jupiter edge ever closer to Venus. As the planets draw together, they'll begin to resemble a pair of celestial headlights - an appropriate comparison for an event that graces the morning commute. The planetary dance culminates February 1, when the two worlds lie a little more than one Moon-width apart. That's so close, observers with telescopes can view both planets at the same time by using low-power, wide-field eyepieces. What's more, Jupiter's four biggest moons will be on display as well. Observers can take in six worlds with one view. Although the two planets seem to be in danger of colliding, appearances can be deceiving. On February 1, Jupiter lies 562 million miles (904 million kilometers) away. That's more than 4.5 times farther than Venus, which is 124 million miles (200 million km) distant the same morning. Even so, a telescope will show Jupiter's 33" width is nearly 3 times the size of Venus' disk. The reason, of course, is that giant Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet, is 12 times Venus' size. |
| How you can see it From January 25 and February 1, look low in the southeast in the hour before dawn. The two brightest star-like objects are Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the brighter of the two. |
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