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The quiet evening of Feb. 22 2023 turned out to be a momentous occasion in the world of astronomy.

Anyone who happened to gaze up at the night sky was met with the ethereal sight of Jupiter and Venus coming into conjunction with a crescent moon.

Astronomy hobbyist page Stargazing Singapore noted that the phenomenon occurred between sunset and 9pm.

CNA reported that many Singaporeans were able to enjoy the view from areas across the island including HarbourFront, Bedok, Paya Lebar, Marina Bay and River Valley.

The straight alignment with the moon at the top was visible from Kallang just before 8pm on Thursday night, according to people in the area who witnessed the phenomenon.

Jupiter and Venus are known as the two brightest planets in the sky.

They will appear closer together each evening in February 2023.

Both planets will appear very close together -- to be in conjunction -- on March 1.

A rare event

r/satisfying sight aside, what makes this event so special?

For fellow laymen, Gulf News explained: "Venus generally conjuncts Jupiter about three years and three months—making it a rather rare event," while the moon "moves much faster, and passes conjunction with every planet roughly once a month".

The 2023 meeting of these celestial bodies proved to be one of the most remarkable ones.

According to calculations presented by inthesky.org, on Feb. 22, Venus and the Moon were the closest that they've been for decades.

BBC reported that this planetary conjunction happens annually, but this year they will appear much closer than usual.

The next time such a spectacle occurs again will be in 2039.

Here're the stats for nerds:

Make of it what you will

People wouldn't be people if we didn't try to glean some significance from all of this.

First of all, it's worth noting that as the Moon and Venus lie in the constellation of Pisces, this conjunction is the perfect birthday gift for all fellow Pisces babies out there. Lucky us.

For the more spiritually-inclined, Freshered sheds further light on planet symbolism:

"Jupiter is associated with growth, healing, and good luck. It can indicate financial success as well as education and knowledge.

Venus is associated with love, beauty and art. Its meaning is often tied to relationships and harmony.

As a result, the combination of these three factors could represent a pretty significant force of change. The unification of passion and wisdom indicates a creative venture that not only provides personal fulfilment, but also a larger success and bounty. It could also indicate the mending of a relationship. The crescent moon, which is only beginning to take the first steps toward fulness, indicates this venture is in its early stages, but holds quite a bit of potential for the future."

Top image composite via A Kannan & Jeffrey C K Lim & Sailor Moon