Tonight an illusion will make it appear as if the planets Jupiter and Venus have merged in the Western horizon, giving off the appearance of a “superstar”. The sight will be visible in North America in that direction just after sunset.
Every night this month, the two planets have appeared to get closer to one another. Tonight they will be just one third of a degree apart and appear to merge into one big bright shining object in the sky. Jupiter will appear circular, and Venus will form a crescent around it.
Some have claimed tonight’s rare planetary alignment was once responsible for the so-called “Star of Bethlehem”.
