February conjunction: See Venus and Jupiter’s close encounter this week

Venus and Jupiter will be in conjunction on Thursday, February 11, and we in the Southern Hemisphere are in the prime seats for this one.

“Venus and Jupiter rank as the third-brightest and fourth-brightest celestial bodies in all the heavens, respectively, after the sun and moon, their furtive rendezvous might elude detection in the morning twilight from mid-and-far northern latitudes”.

Thankfully, the Southern Hemisphere has a big advantage here. The pathway of planets in front of the zodiacal constellations will intersect right before our eyes, so to speak. Here’s what you need to know and how to make the best of it.

Venus and Jupiter in Conjunction

What is a conjunction?

But first, what is a conjunction? It’s the “apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies”. From our perspective on Earth, they might appear right next to hours, while still being millions of kilometres apart.

“The phenomenon in which two bodies have the same apparent ecliptic longitude or right ascension as viewed from a third body. Conjunctions are usually tabulated as geocentric phenomena”.

The Astronomical Almanac

In other words, geocentric inferior conjunctions occur between Mercury and Venus when the planet is between the Earth and Sun, while superior conjunctions occur when the Sun is between the planet and Earth.

A strange dance

This conjunction is quite interesting. At the moment, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn are all on the same side of the sun. Despite all planets orbiting the Sun in the direction, Venus appears to travel in the opposite direction of Jupiter and Saturn.

According to Space.com, it’s because Venus moves toward the celestial east, while Jupiter and Saturn move towards the celestial west. Also, keep in mind that Venus is also closer to the Earth.

Watching Venus is similar to a spectator watching a car speeding around a race track. When the car (or Venus) is nearest to us, it passes in front of us moving from left to right. It then curves away, and as it speeds around to the far side of the track, it appears to move from right to left. 

When to see Venus and Jupiter in conjunction

The two planets will pass by each other on 11 February 2021, and we in South Africa will have a window to see the planets passing – like ships in the night – approximately 30 minutes before sunrise.

You might only be able to see one dot, and that would be Venus as it is closer and would thus shine six times brighter than Jupiter. The approximate rising times are as follows:

• 40 degrees north latitude: Venus rises 1/3 hour (20 minutes) before sunrise
• Equator (0 degrees latitude): Venus rises 5/6 hour (50 minutes) before sunrise
• 35 degrees south latitude: Venus rises 1 hour (60 minutes) before sunrise

You should be able to view the planets as tiny dots even with a pair of binoculars. However, if you have a telescope, now’s the time to dust it off.

While their intricate dance, Venus will continue to move toward the celestial east while Jupiter and Saturn will continue to climb “upward”, away from the sun and Venus. By March 2021, Venus will have disappeared from the morning sky view.