Is it a star? Is it a plane? No, it's a spectacular planetary convergence.
The two brightest objects in the heavens (after the Sun and Moon) are currently dominating Australia's evening sky.
QUT astrophysicist Dr Stephen Hughes said planets Venus and Jupiter are moving closer together and will continue to do so until Wednesday July 1.
"On that night Venus and Jupiter will be at their closest point to each other, from the viewpoint of Earth - to our appearance they'll be about a pinky-finger width apart," said Dr Hughes. from QUT's Science and Engineering Faculty.
"Look about 30 degrees above the western horizon at 5.30pm on Wednesday - it will be pretty hard to miss.
"Conjunctions of Venus and Jupiter are fairly common but this one will be spectacular because Venus is quite close to Earth at the moment and so looks particularly bright.
"Just like astronomers can predict the movement of the planets into the future, they have also tracked the movement of the planets backwards in time. Some believe the Star of Bethlehem referred to in the Bible was actually a conjunction of Venus and Jupiter."
Dr Hughes said the Venus-Jupiter double act will be visible until about 7.30pm on Wednesday.
Dr Hughes can also comment on:
• When we can expect the next Venus-Jupiter conjunction.
• Why the planets tend to both converge and follow each other in our sky (the elliptic) - including a visual description involving M&Ms on a plate.
• How the full Moon will affect viewing.
• Why Venus and Jupiter are such bright objects even though they are not stars.
• Why Venus and conjunctions involving Venus can cast shadows on the ground.
• Why Venus appears to loop around the sky.
• How to tell if you are looking at a planet or a star.
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Media contact:
Kate Hagman, QUT Media, 07 3138 0358, kate.haggman@qut.edu.au
After hours Rose Trapnell, QUT Media team leader, 0407 585 901.
