Jupiter and Venus over Italy.

What are those two bright spots? Planets. A few days ago, the two brightest planets in the night sky passed within a single degree of each other in what is termed a conjunction . Visible just after sunset in much of the world, the two bright spots were Jupiter (left) and Venus (right). The featured image was taken near closest approach from Cirica , Sicily , Italy . The week before, Venus was rising higher in the sunset sky to meet the dropping Jupiter. Now they have switched places . Of course, Venus remains much closer to both the Sun and the Earth than Jupiter -- the apparent closeness between the planets in the sky of Earth was only angular . You can still see the popular pair for an hour or so after sunset this month although they continue to separate, and Jupiter continues to set earlier each night.

Jupiter & Venus Conjunction Gallery: Notable Submissions to APOD