“Beauty and Wisdom make a rare conjunction”
– Petronius

The news bits from past several days about Venus and Jupiter coming together had raised curiosity in me (more about jupiter-and-venus-conjunction here). I am no sky-watcher nor had I ever tried to imagine how two planets far away from each other by hundreds of millions of miles, in entirely different orbits can come together and appear aligned to us earthlings. I tried to learn more.

Curious to behold the phenomenon tonight I ventured out onto to watch the skies. It was a treat to watch the full moon on one end of the sky while planets Jupiter and Venus catching up with each other in their brightest best on the other end. Just a couple of hours after the sunset the western sky had the dazzling planets Jupiter and Venus stand side by side – easy to spot as they were the brightest objects in the sky, besides the full moon.

The astronomy fraternity calls this phenomenon as ‘Conjunction’ when two planets line up in their own orbits in such a way that makes them (from the line of sight) appear to be heaped together.

According to the astrologers who draw significance of planetary positions and their effects on human beings, such planetary conjunctions signify a blending of energies of two or more planets. Conjunctions can have both positive and negative influence on human beings depending on their positions. In astrology Venus represents beauty, love, money and the likes while Jupiter represents wisdom and knowledge. It is indeed a celestial conjunction of beauty and wisdom.

Some mythologists are even comparing this Jupiter-Venus conjunction with the biblical ‘Star of Bethlehem’ that is believed to have revealed the birth of Jesus. Well, that’s something! Is this present sky phenomenon alluding to a similar history in the making?

All three philosophies from astronomy, astrology and mythology give very interesting perspectives. Are these cosmic movements giving us a message? Do we have the wisdom to decipher the cosmic message?

An attempt to capture Venus and Jupiter in proximity using a 55-250mm lens (the lens frustratingly fell short in capturing the glory of these cosmic giants!)

The mesmerizing Full Moon in Cancer