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Beautiful landscape after sunset with the moon, Jupiter and Venus, seen from Isalo, Madagascar Shutterstock/Dennis van de Water
Look Up

Venus, Jupiter and Mars to create triangle spectacle tomorrow morning

The spectacle, which has occurred every morning this weekend, looks like bright stars.

TOMORROW MORNING IS your last chance to see what will look like a ‘double star’ in the sky.

It will actually be the two brightest objects in the sky, Venus and Jupiter. The planets will look like they are passing close to one another between 7am – 8am.

David Moore, editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine said, “The two planets are not really close to one another in space, it is merely a line of sight effect, but extremely spectacular never the less.

The spectacle, which has occurred every morning this weekend is easily visible to the naked eye. Moore added:

It is a rare spectacle of nature and everyone should take a look.

The planet Venus looks like a bright star to the naked eye but it is 100 times brighter than the brightest stars in the sky. Venus is around 100 million km from Earth.

The planet Jupiter also looks like a very bright star to the naked eye and it is 10 times brighter than the brightest stars in the sky. Jupiter is about 900 million km from Earth

Venus is the same size as the Earth, but Jupiter is 11 times wider than Earth (and therefore Venus).

Planet Mars, while slightly dimmer, will also be visible to the naked eye. It will be to the lower left of the Venus-Jupiter pair.

Read: All eyes on the sky: A meteor shower will be visible over Ireland tonight>

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