Venus and Jupiter Shine Over Sweden's Night Lights

Venus and Jupiter appear in conjunction in the upper right of this image taken from Stockholm, Sweden on March 11. CREDIT: P-M Heden / The World at Night View full size image

The city lights of Stockholm don’t outshine Venus and Jupiter when the duo meet in this celestial conjunction.

Skywatcher P-M Heden of The World at Night took this spectacular photo from Sweden’s capital Stockholm on March 11.

The two brightest dots in the upper right of the image are Venus and Jupiter. The pair met several times in March when both planets appeared closer to each other from earth, a phenomenon called a conjunction. To the left of the planets, a few stars from the constellations Taurus and Orion are still visible.

Although both planets are quite far from each other, they appear to be very close in the night sky, creating a conjunction.

Venus-Jupiter conjunctions are fairly special events, occurring roughly every 13 months. Experts said this year’s conjunction was especially stunning because the planets were visible together for so long and were so bright in the sky. [Amazing Photos of Venus and Jupiter]

Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.

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