Overview
- The closest apparent approach occurred on Tuesday, June 9, when Venus and Jupiter sat about 1.6° apart in the western sky shortly after sunset.
- The pairing was visible to the naked eye with the best viewing window roughly 20 to 45 minutes after local sunset and required a clear, low western horizon for the full view.
- Binoculars, small telescopes, or a 150–300mm telephoto lens can enhance the view and help capture Jupiter’s moons and sharper photos of the two planets.
- Planetariums and science centers staged public sky‑watches and the Virtual Telescope Project provided a global livestream so people with poor local visibility could watch in real time.
- The close appearance is an optical conjunction with the planets still far apart in space, and observers should watch for Mercury joining the scene from June 11–15 and other mid‑June events that extend the viewing sequence.