For all you star and planet-gazers, this Thursday evening, take a look at the western skies as Jupiter and Venus--the two brightest planets to the unaided eye--stage a close encounter over the Northern Hemisphere. The two planets have been getting closer and closer in the sky for the last month, and now it’s time to see them side-by-side. Venus is the higher, brighter object, and Jupiter is the lower dimmer one. Of course, Venus and Jupiter aren’t actually close to each other in the sky. They’re really separated by millions of kilometres. But from our perspective here on Earth, we see the two objects closely lined up. That’s a conjunction. Venus and Jupiter reach 3 degrees distance from one another. The sky show will continue, and on March 25th, 2012, the New Moon will join the pair again to create a triple conjunction - another great photo opportunity.

這個星期四夜晚可以觀察到“金星合木星”的有趣天象。盡管二者在太空中的距離實際上非常遙遠，但看起來好像挨在一起。金星是太陽系八顆行星中最亮的，我國古代稱之為“太白”，西方人稱它為愛神“維納斯”，充滿著浪漫色彩；而木星則是太陽系八顆行星中出名的“大個子”，亮度僅次于金星。作為行星中較為明亮的兩顆，二者的相合往往會吸引很多眼球。