Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Those Bright Lights in the Night Sky? They're Coming Back Tonight
NANCY WEBSITE HEADSHOT 1
By Nancy Price, Multimedia Journalist
Published 2 years ago on
March 2, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Two bright dots hovering in Fresno’s western sky Wednesday night caused a bit of a stir on social media among Fresno residents who wondered if they were looking at a UFO or some weird phenomenon.

One poster on Facebook said that it looked “like a car parked with headlight on in the sky wtf no lie Fresno area calwa.”

Nope, not headlights, not UFOs, but instead two heavenly bodies — Venus and Jupiter — orbiting close enough for a “celestial kiss.”

And if you missed last night’s light show, you’ll have another chance tonight, if skies remain clear.

Close Together, Yet Far Apart

Even though they look close together in the sky, the two planets are actually hundreds of millions of miles apart. Venus’ orbit puts it between the Earth and sun, while jumbo Jupiter, the solar system’s biggest planet, is on the other side of Mars away from the sun.

The cosmic coincidence has put both planets within the same quadrant of our nighttime sky is what astronomers call a “conjunction.”

Fresno State physics professor Dr. Steven White, director of the university’s Downing Planetarium, told GV Wire that the celestial phenomenon is interesting scientifically, even though conjunctions occur every couple of years — although not always with such proximity.

But “more than anything else, it’s very beautiful,” he said.

Venus is a frequent sight in the early morning and evening sky, and because of its closeness to both the sun and to Earth it appears as a bright object. The sunlight hitting Jupiter, on the other hand, has to travel half a billion miles from the sun to Jupiter and then bounce back to earth, making the bigger planet look dimmer in comparison, he said.

Unfortunately, the planetarium’s public-watching calendar did not coincide with Wednesday’s conjunction, White said. “We had exams to get ready,” he said. “Because it’s not all about astronomy. We have to do exams and things like that to keep it running.”

The next public showing at Downing Planetarium will be March 24 and 25, assuming skies are clear.

For those who missed last night’s conjunction, White says Thursday’s show will be almost as good, with the planets passing as close as one degree apart instead of Wednesday’s half-degree — about the width of a full moon, he said.

And if you’ve got a good enough lens tonight, you might even see Jupiter’s two moons, as the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles did Wednesday night in this video.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Rural California, Reliant on the Trump Administration for Jobs, Braces for Cuts

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

DON'T MISS

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

DON'T MISS

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

DON'T MISS

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

DON'T MISS

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

DON'T MISS

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

DON'T MISS

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

UP NEXT

Order That Kept Water in the Kern River Reversed by 5th District Court of Appeal

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Christopher Robert Sharkey

UP NEXT

Fresno County Authorities Need Help Finding Family of Alejandro Solis

UP NEXT

Lilly Is a Young Terrier Who Loves Dogs, Cats, and People

UP NEXT

Colorado Man Charged with Pointing Laser at Fresno Sheriff Helicopter

UP NEXT

Fresno Firefighters Save Dog From Canal and Now She’s Ready for Adoption

UP NEXT

State Center Trustees Render Split Decision on Future of PLAs

UP NEXT

The ‘Six’ Wives of King Henry VIII Sing Their Hearts Out in Fresno

UP NEXT

Reps. Costa, Gray Propose Bill to Address Critical Doctor Shortage in Rural Areas

UP NEXT

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Yakista Ceeblaj Lor

Nancy Price,
Multimedia Journalist
Nancy Price is a multimedia journalist for GV Wire. A longtime reporter and editor who has worked for newspapers in California, Florida, Alaska, Illinois and Kansas, Nancy joined GV Wire in July 2019. She previously worked as an assistant metro editor for 13 years at The Fresno Bee. Nancy earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Her hobbies include singing with the Fresno Master Chorale and volunteering with Fresno Filmworks. You can reach Nancy at 559-492-4087 or Send an Email

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

15 hours ago

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

15 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

15 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

15 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

17 hours ago

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

18 hours ago

Pence Will Receive the Profile in Courage Award From the JFK Library for His Actions on Jan. 6

19 hours ago

Politics Turns Ugly for a Conservative Running for Fresno State Student Body President

19 hours ago

Pentagon’s Watchdog to Review Hegseth’s Use of Signal App to Convey Plans for Houthi Strike

19 hours ago

President Trump’s Tariffs Could Be the Political Tipping Point

20 hours ago

Rural California, Reliant on the Trump Administration for Jobs, Braces for Cuts

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. Far from the halls of power in Washington, the forested ha...

43 minutes ago

43 minutes ago

Rural California, Reliant on the Trump Administration for Jobs, Braces for Cuts

14 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: CEMEX’s New Mining Plan for the San Joaquin River

President Donald Trump speaks during an event to announce new tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, April 2, 2025, in Washington. (AP/Mark Schiefelbein)
14 hours ago

Trump Fires NSC Officials a Day After Far-Right Activist Raises Concerns to Him

15 hours ago

China Halts Approvals for New US Investment Projects

15 hours ago

Measles Spreads to Central Texas; 5 States Have Active Outbreaks

15 hours ago

Trump Tariff Fears Erase $2 Trillion From US Stocks

15 hours ago

Startup Offers Controversial Microplastic Blood Cleansing Treatment

Dr. Mehmet Oz, President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, seated right, gives a thumbs-up alongside his wife Lisa Oz, seated left, with friends and family after he testified at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Finance Committee, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP/Ben Curtis)
17 hours ago

Senate Confirms Mehmet Oz to Take Lead of Medicare and Medicaid Agency

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend