Look up! Venus and the moon will ‘meet’ during a celestial event after the sun sets tonight

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Look up! Venus and the moon will ‘meet’ in the sky during a celestial event after the sun sets tonight

  • Venus and the moon will appear to be side-by-side tonight after sunset
  •  The moon will sit below the Aries Constellation with Venus to its side
  • Venus is currently climbing high in the sky and is moving closer to the moon 

By Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

Published: | Updated:

Venus and the moon are meeting over the Northern Hemisphere tonight during a celestial event that begins 45 minutes after sunset.

The moon will sit below the Aries Constellation with Venus to its side appearing like a bright massive star. 

Venus is currently in the middle of an ‘evening apparition’ and is climbing high in the sky until it reaches its greatest separation from the sun – allowing it to be more visible from Earth.

Although it will appear the pair is side-by-side, Venus is 84 million miles from Earth and the moon is just 250,000 miles away.   

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Venus and the moon are meeting over the Northern Hemisphere tonight during a celestial event that begins 45 minutes after sunset. The moon will sit below the Aries Constellation with Venus to its side appearing like a bright massive star (stock)

Venus is the second planet from the sun.

Named after the Roman goddess of love and beauty, it is also called ‘evening star’ because it is the third brightest object in the sky – the sun and moon are the first two. 

The reason for its shine is because of its ‘albedo’, which astronomers use to describe how bright a planet is by specific measurements, according to EarthSky.

Venus’s albedo is near .7, which means it reflects about 70 percent of the sunlight that hits it, which is due to the planet’s atmosphere of  highly reflective clouds.

The meeting of the moon and Venus will appear in the southwest area of the Northern Hemisphere. 

Venus is moving closer to the moon and although the two travel on different orbits, they tend to follow the same path, which makes them appear closer tonight

Venus is moving closer to the moon and although the two travel on different orbits, they tend to follow the same path, which makes them appear closer tonight

Venus is in the middle of an ‘evening apparition’, which is when the planet climbs higher in the sky until it reaches its greatest separation from the sun, International Business Times reported.

And tonight, the pair will appear to meet.  

Venus is moving closer to the moon and although the two travel on different orbits, they tend to follow the same path, which makes them appear closer tonight.

According to planetary scientist Bill Dunford of NASA, the moon will be in its crescent form on Thursday. 

He also suggests looking to the southwest to see the two cosmic object.

At this viewing point, skygazers will see the moon just below the Aries Constellation and Venus will look like a massive, bright star.

Dunford also noted that if the sky stays clear, Venus and the moon will be the brightest objects in the sky tonight – making them impossible to miss.

For those who miss the stunning show will have another chance in the last days of March.  

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT VENUS’ ATMOSPHERE?

Venus’ atmosphere consists mainly of carbon dioxide, with clouds of sulphuric acid droplets. 

The thick atmosphere traps the sun’s heat, resulting in surface temperatures higher than 470°C (880°F).

The atmosphere has many layers with different temperatures. 

At the level where the clouds are, about 30 miles (50 km) up from the surface, it’s about the same temperature as on the surface of the Earth.

As Venus moves forward in its solar orbit while slowly rotating backwards on its axis, the top level of clouds zips around the planet every four Earth days.

They are driven by hurricane-force winds travelling at about 224 miles (360 km) per hour. 

Atmospheric lightning bursts light up these quick-moving clouds. 

Speeds within the clouds decrease with cloud height, and at the surface are estimated to be just a few miles (km) per hour.

On the ground, it would look like a very hazy, overcast day on Earth and the atmosphere is so heavy it would feel like you were one mile (1.6km) deep underwater.