Spectacular photos of Venus and Jupiter coming together in this rare close encounter that won't happen again until 2023

Jessica Orwig

Jul 1, 2015, 21:29 IST

Last night, the brightest planets in the night sky came together in a spectacular event called a conjunction, the likes of which won't be seen again until the year 2023.

Venus and Jupiter, although hundreds of millions of miles apart, appeared to almost collide with one another as they inched incredibly close to each other in the sky on June 30. People from around the world got a chance to see the event.

We asked you to send us any photos you took, and you didn't disappoint! BI readers in Australia, the Phillipines, Nova Scotia, as well as across the entire US sent us some pretty amazing photos of the event.

So, in case you missed the event, or just want to see how the conjunction looked at different latitudes on the globe, check these out:

Peter Manins sent us this great shot from One Arm Point in Australia. He took the photo with his iPad, no less:

Courtesy of Peter Manins

On the other half of the world, in Fountain Valley, California, Pam Warren snapped the photo below. You can clearly distinguish the two planets, Venus and Jupiter. Venus is the brighter object on the bottom and Jupiter is on the top.

Notice how Venus is above Jupiter in the earlier photo taken from Australia. That's because things in the night sky swap directions when you go from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere.

Courtesy of Pam Warren

Sue Mukerji sent us this photo from the city of White Rock in British Columbia, Canada. Venus is about 100 times brighter than Jupiter, so it shows up more clearly in this shot:

Courtesy of Sue Mukerji

Peta Wagner sent us this photo from New Germany, Nova Scotia. It's a little grainy because he took the photo with his iPhone. When you think about it, the fact that an iPhone camera can even resolve the two planets tells you just how bright they are.

Courtesy of Peta Wagner

This photo is from Fred White in Takoma, Washington. Venus and Jupiter are the two brightest objects in the night sky besides the moon. They're so bright, that it's easy to mistake them for airplanes (until you realize they're not moving very fast):

Courtesy of Fred White

Norman Morigza sent us this photo, which he took from Quezon City in the Phillipines. You can't see them in this image, but if you had binoculars for the conjunction, you could make out some of Jupiter's largest moons orbiting around the giant gas planet:

Courtesy of Norman Marigza

LaTanya Tryels in Houston, Texas took this shot. She told Business Insider that she'd been marveling over these two bright objects throughout the entire month of June.