Jupiter and Venus meet in the evening sky this week

You've probably noticed two bright spots in the western sky after sunset over the past few weeks. Those aren't stars — they're Jupiter and Venus, and they're about to put on a show.

Venus has been climbing higher since early May. Jupiter has been sinking toward the horizon. This week, they're converging. On June 8, you'll see them just over a degree apart. By June 9, they'll be even closer.

"The two brightest planets low in the evening sky generate lots of interest and are easy and convenient to see with the naked eye," said Paul Delaney, professor emeritus at York University's Department of Physics and Astronomy. "They easily show from day to day the movement of objects in the solar system."

While they'll look almost touching from Earth, they're actually about 670 million kilometres apart — a reminder of how perspective shifts when you're looking at space.

You don't need to wait for the exact moment of closest approach to enjoy the view. Track them over the coming days as they move across the sky. Find a clear view of the western horizon after sunset, and look for Venus — it's the brighter of the pair and lower down.

Before the planets take centre stage, Jupiter's four brightest moons — Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede — are worth watching too. They orbit so quickly you can see their positions change from one night to the next. On June 1 at 9:30 p.m., Io, Callisto, and Europa were on the left side of Jupiter, with Ganymede on the right. Check the same time the next night and you'll see they've shifted — Io and Ganymede move behind the planet, Europa passes in front. Apps like Sky & Telescope's Jupiter Moons tool can help you identify what you're seeing.

Conjunctions like this happen each year, but they're not always visible or this close. Jupiter and Venus meet roughly every three years, and when they do, the sky reminds us that everything up there is constantly moving.