Jupiter & Venus Conjunction

Edited by Peter Y. Chou, WisdomPortal.com

Dance of the Planets Concludes
By the Editors of Sky & Telescope (June 2002)

June 1-2: Dazzling Venus and not-as-bright Jupiter create a head-turning spectacle in the western sky after sunset. Above them are the much fainter stars Pollux and Castor.

June 3: This evening Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets, have an eye-catching conjunction in the western sky at dusk. They're separated by less than the width of a finger held at arm's length, yet they're at very different distances from us. Venus is 11 light-minutes (119 million miles) from Earth this evening, while Jupiter is almost five times farther at 50 light-minutes (561 million miles). Above them shine the much fainter stars Pollux and Castor, distant by 34 and 52 light-years, respectively (200 trillion and 305 trillion miles).

June 4-8: Venus and Jupiter are still appear strikingly close together, but the gap between them widens daily. By late June, Jupiter will be disappearing down into the glow of sunset, while Venus will remain in bright view.

Dante's heavenly ascent with Beatrice to Jupiter Paradiso Canto XVIII, Line 68:

tal fu ne li occhi miei, quando fui vòlto,
per lo candor de la temprata stella
sesta, che dentro a sé m'avea ricolto.
Io vidi in quella giovial facella
lo sfavillar de l'amor che lì era,
segnare a li occhi miei nostra favella.
such change I, turning, saw: the red of Mars
was gone— and now the temperate sixth star's
white heaven welcomed me into itself.
I saw within that torch of Jupiter
the sparkling of the love that it contained
design before my eyes the signs we speak.

Paradiso XVIII.67-72 (Allen Mandelbaum translation, 1984)

* Birth of Venus: Botticelli's Painting (Uffizi Gallery) & Venus Bio (Lemprière's Classical Dictionary)
* June 17, 2 BC: Star of Bethlehem?: Jupiter & Venus Conjunction (Hal Kibbey, Indiana University)
April 23, 1998: Double Occultation of Jupiter & Venus (Olivier Staiger, Swiss Eclipse Chaser)
Feb. 10, 1999: King and Queen of the Sky Renew Vows This Month (Project Astro Utah)
Feb. 18, 1999: Moon, Jupiter, and Venus (Bengt Ask, Sweden)
Feb. 23, 1999: Conjunction of Jupiter and Venus (Worth Hill Observatory, Dorset Heritage Coast, UK)
Feb. 23, 1999: Jupiter & Venus 1/6 of a degree apart (TE.S.R.E. Institute, Bologna, Italy)
Feb. 23, 1999: Very close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter (Olivier Staiger, Geneva, Switzerland)
* May 17, 2000: Venus & Jupiter less than 0.01 degrees apart at 10:30 Universal Time (NASA Science News)
* August 5, 2001: Close encounter between Jupiter & Venus (SpaceWeather.com)
May 14, 2002: Moon, Venus, and Jupiter (Deborah Byrd, Earth & Sky Radio, Austin, TX)
* May 24, 2002: Dazzling Duo: Venus & Jupiter rushing toward a close encounter (NASA Science News)
May 31, 2002: Dynamic Duo: Two Brightest Planets Converge in Evening Sky (Joe Rao, SPACE.com)
* June 1, 2002: Dazzling Evening Duo: Venus & Jupiter meet in evening sky (Richard Talcott, Astronomy.com)
* June 3, 2002: Dance of the Planets Concludes (Sky & Telescope, June 2002)
June 3, 2002: Jupiter pays a call— a close call— on Venus (University of Minnesota)
May-August 2002: Observer's Corner (Victoria Centre, Royal Astronomical Society of Canada)
June 2002: Abrams Planetarium Skywatcher's Diary (Michigan State University)
Venus and Jupiter by Erin Sullivan (Review by Robin Heath, Astrological Journal, 1998)
Venus Aspects to Jupiter in Astrology (Shelly Strauss, Astrological Interpretations)

Classical Myth: Aphrodite Texts
Classical Myth: Aphrodite Images
Classical Myth: Zeus Texts
Classical Myth: Zeus Images
Museum of Olympian Gods: Aphrodite
Museum of Olympian Gods: Zeus

Zeus postage stamp from Greece
Zeus: Greek Mythology Link
Aphrodite postage stamp from Greece
Aphrodite: Greek Mythology Link
Venus in Astronomy and Mythology
Jupiter in Astronomy and Mythology