Venus and Jupiter collide during the rare optical illusion of planetary conjunction

How close the two planets, Venus and Jupiter appear, simply depends on where in the world you view them from this weekend

This weekend you have a chance to see Venus and Jupiter colliding across the sky.

Both planets, which are millions of kilometers apart, seem to have been getting closer and closer together over time recently – a phenomenon commonly known as a conjunction.

NASA has described a conjunction as a time when two planets appear to be touching in the sky when viewed from Earth.

This Venus and Jupiter conjunction usually occurs once a year, but this time the planets will appear even closer than ever.

As long as the sky is clear, you should be able to see the stunning moment anytime between Saturday April 30th and Sunday May 1st.

According to Perth Observatory’s Matt Woods, the best time to see the moment is between 5am and 6am, depending on where you live.

He has said, “Four or five is the best time to go out. Just go outside and head outside to the front yard or back yard. That’s the easiest way to see it.”

“It’s going to be high enough by four or five that it’s going to be over all the trees or something, and it’s quite noticeable.”

Mr Woods confirmed that no matter where in the world you look at them, the planets will still be very close together.

His top tip was a telescope. With a telescope you can see the Venus-Jupiter conjunction clearly.

However, he also confirmed that it is not impossible to see it without a telescope. You can still see the phenomenon, but not in as much detail as with a telescope.

Mr Woods continued: “If you have binoculars you can see them with binoculars and even with the naked eye.”

The two planets are expected to be separated by just half a degree on the morning of April 30th. This is also the reported latitude of the moon itself.

Venus and Jupiter will rise side by side in the morning. Jupiter appears on the left and, of course, Venus on the right. You’ll see the difference as Venus is expected to be significantly brighter as it shines at -4.1 magnitude.

Jupiter is expected to be only about one-sixth as bright as its neighboring planet. It will only glow with a magnitude of -2.1.

Once Sunday May 1st is over, the planets will return to their normal individual orbits.

When this happens they will appear to be moving far away when you view them from Earth.