Sky gazers will be rewarded with a dazzling sight early Monday morning as the two brightest planets will form a spectacular "double star" on the north-eastern horizon, Yahoo News reported. Appearing only 0.2 degrees apart - less than half the width of a little finger held out at arm's length, Jupiter and Venus can be witnessed shortly before sunrise at around 5 a.m.
In the eastern U.S., the two planets' starlight will join together to form the visual effect of a double star. This phenomenon, known as the conjunction, will be the closest one since 2000 and can be best seen about 30 to 60 minutes before sunrise at your local time.
However, their combined brightness and low position in the sky might spark sightings of UFOs and could keep police and Ministry of Defense switchboards busy. "They will be so close together that it's going to be quite a striking sight," Robin Scagell, vice-president of the Society for Popular Astronomy, said. "Undoubtedly people could mistake them for a UFO, especially being so low down. They might appear to move around because of the distortion effect of the atmosphere."
Although the planets will appear to be a kissing-distance apart from each other as seen from the Earth, they are actually separated by hundreds of millions of miles. About once a year on average, Venus and Jupiter cross paths, but their conjunctions vary greatly in separation and visibility. Some are missed completely because they occur in daylight.
The planets will appear to be closest together from Earth on the morning of August 18th, according to Yahoo News. They will continue to move towards each other over the next three days, and can still be seen very close together from Earth. After that they will begin to move apart from each other again.
The next Venus-Jupiter conjunction is due to occur on June 30 next year, but will be less close, Tech Times reported.
Meanwhile, in order to heighten the conjunction experience, a pair of binoculars is recommended, but a small telescope also promises a dramatic view.
Ideally the conjunction should be seen from a high unobstructed vantage point. "People who have buildings, hills or trees in the way might miss it, but even a roof top in London should offer a good view," said Scagell.
