Leslie MacCallum

Tonight: Venus and Jupiter to cozy up in night sky, possibly amid northern lights. There are two reasons to look up tonight. One is certain; the other is speculative. Let's start with what we know for sure: The two brightest planets, Venus and Jupiter, are coming together to form a magnificent conjunction. A planetary conjunction occurs when two or more planets appear very close together in the sky as viewed from Earth, even though they remain millions of miles apart in space. Look to the western sky shortly after sunset. Venus will be the brighter of the pair. "They’ll be a spectacular sight and only 3-full-moon widths apart," writes EarthSky. "Your little pinky held at arm’s length will fit between them." You may also be able to spot Mercury below and to the right of Venus and Jupiter. Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is forecasting the possibility of a strong solar storm, rated Level 3 out of 5, tonight into Tuesday. The storm's intensity and timing remain uncertain, but if it reaches its forecast strength and arrives tonight, it could trigger displays of the northern lights across parts of the northern United States. It's unlikely the storm will be strong enough to produce easily visible aurora in the Beltway area. However, skywatchers in darker locations — especially toward the mountains and away from city lights — may be able to spot them or at least capture them with cameras. Camera sensors are more sensitive to the colors of aurora than our eyes. If the northern lights become visible in parts of the area, we'll post updates.