Lucknow: A spectacular and rare celestial event was witnessed in the west-northwestern sky shortly after sunset on 09 June 2026, when Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in the Solar System, appeared remarkably close to each other. In astronomy, this phenomenon is known as a Planetary Conjunction.
To facilitate public observation of this rare event, Indira Gandhi Planetarium, Lucknow installed two high-powered telescopes and two astrophotography stations within the Planetarium premises. Additionally, two telescopes were set up at the premises of the famous Lete Hue Hanuman Ji Temple, Panchvati Ghat, near Pakka Pul, Chowk, Lucknow, to enable a larger number of people to witness the celestial spectacle.
As 09 June 2026 coincided with the auspicious occasion of Bada Mangal, a large number of devotees, astronomy enthusiasts, students, and members of the general public participated enthusiastically in the programme. Thousands of visitors observed the rare planetary conjunction through telescopes at both the Planetarium campus and the Lete Hue Hanuman Ji Temple premises. The event was organized by Indira Gandhi Planetarium in collaboration with members of the Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club.
During the programme, Planetarium astrophotographers Utkarsh Mishra, Sankalp Mohan, Swapnil Rastogi, and Amritanshu Vajpayee captured high-quality images of the conjunction through astrophotography. Members of the Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club, including Dinesh Joshi, Anurag Awasthi, Anurag Singh, Mohammad Anas, Raghavi Gupta, Akshat Pal, Deeptshikha, Shubhashish Pandey, Ashish Sharma, Akash Chaudhary, Aditya Kashyap, Sarthak Jaiswal, Abhishek, Adarsh, Kavya, Ankit Maurya, Meenakshi Patel, Rahul Singhania, Ayush Saxena, Arjun Gupta, Parmanand Pandey, and several other members actively contributed to the successful conduct of the programme.
From Earth, Venus and Jupiter appeared extremely close together in the same region of the sky. At the moment of closest approach, the angular separation between the two planets was only 1 degree 36 arcminutes (approximately 1.6 degrees). In Lucknow, the conjunction became clearly visible approximately 30 minutes after sunset, and Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury could be seen above the horizon from around 7:12 PM onwards.
At the time of observation, Jupiter was located approximately 900 million kilometres (about 6 AU) from Earth, while Venus was about 180 million kilometres (approximately 1.2 AU) away. In astronomy, when the angular separation between two celestial bodies becomes less than 3 degrees, the event is classified as a Planetary Conjunction.
The apparent brightness of Venus was measured at –3.98 magnitude, while Jupiter shone at –1.85 magnitude. Through telescopic observation, visitors were also able to view Jupiter’s four major Galilean moons—Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto—which attracted considerable interest among the audience.
The free public observation programme was conducted by Indira Gandhi Planetarium until 9:00 PM. Notably, the previous exceptionally close conjunction of Venus and Jupiter occurred on 01 March 2023, when the angular separation between the two planets was only 0.5 degrees. A similarly remarkable conjunction will be visible again on 10 November 2028, when the planets will be separated by approximately 0.8 degrees, and the event will be observable in the pre-dawn sky.
Ramesh Chandra, Secretary and Director of the Uttar Pradesh Council of Science & Technology, stated that the Council is continuously expanding its science outreach initiatives to promote scientific awareness among the public. He further informed that several astronomy-related outreach programmes will be organized during the year to foster scientific temper and enhance public interest in astronomy.
Dr. Rajesh Gangwar, Joint Director of the Council and In-charge of the Planetarium Division, emphasized the importance of encouraging more students and astronomy enthusiasts to join the Uttar Pradesh Amateur Astronomers Club. He also appreciated the efforts of all club members for their valuable contribution to the successful execution of the programme.
Approximately 2,500 members of the public participated in the event and witnessed this rare and fascinating celestial phenomenon firsthand.
