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See great Venus-Jupiter photos at the bottom of this post, captured by the EarthSky community.

Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest planets visible from Earth. And – throughout February 2023 – they’ve been easy to spot in the sunset direction during evening twilight. Dazzling Venus and bold Jupiter have crept closer together all month, with Venus shining as the brighter world. Around the evenings of February 21 and 22, you’ll see an even more spectacular scene in the evening twilight sky, as the young moon – a waxing crescent – joins the show.

And, even when the moon moves away, Venus and Jupiter will still be getting closer on our sky’s dome. At their closest – on March 1, 2023 – Venus will pass 0.5 degrees (the width of a full moon) from Jupiter. It’ll be a stunning sight.

So start watching them this week, as the moon sweeps past the bright planets. Then keep looking outside every evening to see them draw closer, and closer, on the sky’s dome.

By March 1, Venus and Jupiter will fit inside a single binocular field of view.

Now on sale! The 2023 EarthSky lunar calendar. A unique and beautiful poster-sized calendar showing phases of the moon every night of the year. Treat yourself!

They are very, very bright! You can’t miss them if you look west after sunset.

By early March, when the two are closest, Jupiter will be shining at -2.1 magnitude. Meanwhile, Venus shines at a whopping -4.0 magnitude. In fact, Venus ranks as the 3rd-brightest natural body in the sky, after the sun and moon. Venus is so dazzlingly bright that some sharp-sighted people can even spot it in daylight.

By the way, the view changes with time depending on your location on the globe. For a more precise star chart from your location, try Stellarium.

Submit your photos of the Venus and Jupiter conjunction to EarthSky Community Photos.

Bottom line: The waxing crescent moon, and Venus and Jupiter, are all in the west after sunset. Watch for the bright planets and moon this week!

For more great observing events in the coming weeks, visit EarthSky’s night sky guide