Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2026 June 12 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Venus and Jupiter: Conjunction from Avebury Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Josh Dury Explanation: [5]To see Venus and Jupiter together this month, you won't need binoculars or even a telescope. [6]Just look up after sunset and you'll find them emerging as the sky grows dark near the western horizon. In fact, on June 9 the two brightest planets were in close conjunction, separated on the sky by less than 2 degrees from our perspective. Since (brighter) inner planet Venus orbits the Sun faster than outer planet Jupiter, it catches up with and passes the outer planet along the ecliptic roughly every 13 months. But every three years or so their resulting conjunction can be viewed far enough from the Sun to be easily seen in Earth's twilight skies. On June 9, the two celestial beacon's close "cosmic kiss" was captured here next to the two large standing stones at the cove within a 4,000 year old [7]stone circle at Avebury, UK. Larger than [8]Stonehenge, the [9]Avebury henge and stone circle complex is also recognized as one of the most [10]significant neolithic ceremonial sites on planet Earth. Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & Jerry Bonnell ([24]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [25]Specific rights apply. [26]NASA Web Privacy, [27]Accessibility, [28]Notices; A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2606/CosmicKissTheCoveAveburyDury.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://www.joshduryphoto-media.com/ 5. https://earthsky.org/tonight/venus-jupiter-conjunction-june-2026-charts-how-to-see/ 6. https://science.nasa.gov/solar-system/whats-up-june-2026-skywatching-tips-from-nasa/ 7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIAHAhInKAc 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap251222.html 9. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/avebury/history/ 10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avebury 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260611.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.com/feed.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260612 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260613.html 22. https://www.mtu.edu/physics/department/faculty/nemiroff/ 23. https://www.mtu.edu/physics 24. https://www.astro.umd.edu/ 25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 26. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 27. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 28. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/ 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/