The King and Queen of the Planets

If you look west, shortly after sunset, Venus is hard to miss. It's a bit south (to the left, if you're in the northern hemisphere) of the spot on the horizon where the Sun sets, and up about 10 or so degrees, roughly the width of your fist held at arm's length. If you wait a few more minutes, and look a bit up and to the left of Venus, you'll see Jupiter. Normally Jupiter is very bright, and obvious. But it's on the opposite side of the Sun from us now, over 900 million kilometers (575 million miles) away. Worse, it's near the horizon, so the twilight dilutes it, and if you have any pollution or haze, it's dimmed even more. Being so close to Venus in the sky doesn't help either! And it'll get closer. Over the next few days, Venus and the big guy will draw ever ...