'Double planet' - Venus, Jupiter to appear close together
The planets Venus and Jupiter will appear extremely close together in Irish skies tonight in an event Astronomy Ireland is calling a "double planet".
The phenomenon, known as a planetary conjunction, will bring two of the brightest planets side by side.
Both planets shine about 100 times brighter than the brightest stars in the sky.
They have been getting closer in the sky in recent weeks and will be at their closest tonight.
However, it is just a line of sight effect as Venus, the brighter of the two planets, is five times closer to Earth.
Jupiter is 12 times wider than Venus but lies considerably further away from the Sun than Venus.
"It will be an incredible sight to the naked eye, the highlight of the year, and indeed for many years," said astronomer David Moore.
"The planets Venus and Jupiter look like very bright stars to the naked eye and nothing is brighter than them so when they are so close on Tuesday that you can cover both of them with one finger held up at arm's length, you just don't get a more impressive sight than that," he said.
Astronomy Ireland said that the planetary conjunction can be photographed using a phone, with the best time for pictures coming during twilight, from around 10pm to 11pm.
While the view is best tonight, the conjunction can be seen every evening after sunset for the rest of the week.
It will be the best view of the planetary conjunction between Venus and Jupiter until 2047.
Skywatchers will be able to see the planets by looking west after sunset, where they will see two bright lights in the evening sky.
"At the very least watch every clear night over the next week and get the whole family out to witness such a bright and rare planet alignment," Mr Moore said.
"It will be something they will remember for the rest of their lives."
Astronomer Frances McCarthy, who is an associate with the Blackrock Observatory in Cork, said the event will be visible even if it is partially cloudy.
"So you'll see incredibly bright Venus above the horizon, about two hand widths above the horizon.
"If you've got a big tree west of you, move around the tree and just next to it will be Jupiter.
Speaking on RTÉ's News at One, Ms McCarthy said conjunctions tend to happen each year, but added that it will skip next year.
"So catch this because you'll be waiting till the end of 2028 to see something like it again."
