Venus, Jupiter To Appear Close In NJ Sky This Weekend

NEW JERSEY - Grab your binoculars and telescopes, folks: two planets that appear brightest to the naked eye will be extra-visible starting Friday.

During pre-dawn hours on Friday, Jupiter and Venus will shine with star-like visibility, and the two planets will appear even closer together on Saturday.

It’ll be the closest that Venus and Jupiter have appeared since 2016, according to Space.com, with the planetary meetup (also known as a conjunction) bringing the two planets just one-half degree of each other. The planets won’t be this close in sight again until 2023.

"Of course," NASA explained in a statement, "the planets are actually far apart in space, and only appear to move closer, or farther apart, in the sky as our view of them across the solar system changes from month to month."

The best time to see the planetary parade is about an hour before sunrise before sun glare outshines any of the visible planets, Space.com adds. However, per CNN, the two planets will technically appear closest together at around 3 p.m. on Saturday, with Venus 0.2 degrees south of Jupiter (a distance less than the diameter of the moon).

But there’s more to be seen in the night sky on Friday and Saturday, including two more planets.

The alignment of four planets - Jupiter, Venus, Saturn and Mars - just above the horizon can be viewed easily in the eastern sky without a telescope through the end of the month, according to NASA, weather permitting.

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This conjunction isn't as impressive as the grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in late 2020, but the planetary lineup is "still really impressive" and will "make for thrilling sights in the morning sky," NASA said. "So definitely try to catch them if you can!"

While you're scanning the sky, you may still see a few stray shooting stars from the Lyrids meteor shower, known for producing fireballs with bright dust trails that can last for a few seconds. The monthlong Eta Aquarids meteor shower is also underway. It peaks May 4 to 5.

The meteor shower favors the Southern Hemisphere, where it produces about 60 meteors an hour, but it's a decent show in the Northern Hemisphere, too, and viewers in this part of the world can expect to see about half that many. Comet Haley is the parent of this meteor shower, which has been observed since ancient times.

With reporting by Beth Dalbey.