Venus-Jupiter Conjunction with Mercury beneath 9th and 10th June.

On Wednesday 10th June, a close conjunction between Venus and Jupiter was again visible in clear sky above Mutare between 5.29 and 6.25. This was a day after the instant of closest approach which took place at 19.48 UTC (9.48 pm Local Time) the previous evening. Much publicity has been given to this event even though the most recent approach, in which the planets were 1.6 degrees apart, was not as close as the previous three. The separation on August 12, 2025 was 0.9 degrees, that on March 1-2, 2023 was 0.5 degrees and the one on April 30-May 1, 2022 was 0.5 degrees. As often happens many of the images featured on social media and some astronomy websites are either contrived or have been manipulated to exaggerate both size and brightness of the planets. The accompanying montage compiled from images taken on the 9th and 10th with minimal application of ‘Star Spikes Pro’ filter, is as close as possible a true record of the most recent conjunction as viewed in volcanic sunset twilight from Mutare.

Tripod-mounted Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ60 in sunset mode.

Compilation of montage of two images, the first taken at 5.44 pm on the 9th and the second at 5.42 pm on the 10th with minimal application of 'Star Spikes Pro' filter to make the planets more clearly visible.