For all you star and planet-gazers, this Thursday evening, take a look at the western skies as Jupiter and Venus--the two brightest planets to the unaided eye--stage a close encounter over the Northern Hemisphere. The two planets have been getting closer and closer in the sky for the last month, and now it’s time to see them side-by-side. Venus is the higher, brighter object, and Jupiter is the lower dimmer one. Of course, Venus and Jupiter aren’t actually close to each other in the sky. They’re really separated by millions of kilometres. But from our perspective here on Earth, we see the two objects closely lined up. That’s a conjunction. Venus and Jupiter reach 3 degrees distance from one another. The sky show will continue, and on March 25th, 2012, the New Moon will join the pair again to create a triple conjunction - another great photo opportunity.

这个星期四夜晚可以观察到“金星合木星”的有趣天象。尽管二者在太空中的距离实际上非常遥远，但看起来好像挨在一起。金星是太阳系八颗行星中最亮的，我国古代称之为“太白”，西方人称它为爱神“维纳斯”，充满着浪漫色彩；而木星则是太阳系八颗行星中出名的“大个子”，亮度仅次于金星。作为行星中较为明亮的两颗，二者的相合往往会吸引很多眼球。