Two of the brightest planets in the sky are heading for a close encounter this weekend.

Venus will appear just 0.2 degrees – less than a full moon diameter – south of Jupiter, in what is known as a conjunction, according to astronomy website EarthSky.

In fact, the two planets will be millions of miles apart but from Earth they will appear close to colliding, experts say.

Sky-watchers will have the best view in the early morning, before the glare of the sun, and the planets will appear close to each other for several days around 30 April.

Venus and Jupiter’s conjunction culminates in UK skies just before sunrise on Sunday 1 May, according to Astronomy Now magazine.

It said: “Given some clear mornings over the next week or so… you can soak up the scene with the naked eye and a pair of binoculars as the two brilliant planets rapidly approach each other and then separate, with the pair remaining within the field of view of a pair of 10 x 50 binoculars until the first six days of May.”

Venus and Jupiter will be fixtures in the UK night sky in the forthcoming months, with Venus remaining visible before dawn until September, Astronomy Now said.

It is the closest Venus and Jupiter have appeared since August 2016, according to astronomy website Space.

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