Stunning scenes from around the world of the moon lining up with Jupiter and Venus in preparation for their closest conjunction this weekend

Weather of Arabia - Sky observers around the world had a clear vision with the naked eye of the crescent accompanied by the planets Jupiter and Venus last Wednesday evening, as the three planets lined up and came together to form a perfect trio in the night sky, in preparation for the conjunction of Jupiter and Venus within a few days.

Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus

Right now, two of the solar system's brightest planets - Jupiter and Venus - are getting closer and closer over the next few days as they prepare for their closest conjunction on March 1-2. According to Earthsky.com , the two planets will appear close together, with a difference of just 0.5 degrees. Jupiter will shine at magnitude -2.1, while Venus will shine at magnitude -4.0.

Why do the two planets (Venus and Jupiter) appear so bright?

Venus is distinguished by having almost the same size and density as Earth, and it is the brightest planet visible from Earth, but why?

Venus is the second planet in the solar system away from the sun, and it is relatively close to Earth, but this is not the only reason why it is bright. Venus is covered with reflective clouds that reflect sunlight. This is the main reason why the planet looks so bright to us!

On the other hand, Jupiter appears bright mainly because of its large size. Jupiter is the 5th planet among the planets of the solar system in terms of its distance from our sun, and it is much farther than Venus, but it is the largest planet in our solar system. Jupiter's radius is 43,441 miles (69,911 km), which is 11 times larger than Earth's, but Jupiter's size makes it so bright!

Additional scenes of the Moon's alignment with Jupiter and Venus

Turning to "Twitter", the astronomer, Andrew McCarthy, shared a scene of the celestial bodies that lined up on Wednesday evening, as they met a video with "Time-lapse" technology and the planets moved synchronously while the clouds were framing them in a wonderful scene, and McCarthy shared a picture of the rare event and wrote: "Conjunction Tonight's Moon with Jupiter and Venus (in that order, left to right). The clouds finally cleared up just in time to get this shot. Our sky is absolutely beautiful."

Tonight's Conjunction of the Moon, Jupiter and Venus (In that order, left to right). The clouds finally gave way just in time to get this shot. Our sky is absolutely beautiful. pic.twitter.com/hgy0dsYyuc

— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) February 23, 2023

What an incredibly gorgeous sight. The clouds came back just in time to frame the trio just as they were set. pic.twitter.com/2v3T1X7VYt

— Andrew McCarthy (@AJamesMcCarthy) February 23, 2023

Many Twitter users also shared impressive pictures of the planetary encounter that the moon joined, and here are some of the pictures:

Are you a stargazer?

Because last night, Mother Nature decided to align the Moon, Jupiter, and Venus in a straight line just for you and me.

Pure bliss pic.twitter.com/yvGOEMDK5L

- Shraddha Bansode (@im_shraddha12) February 23, 2023