Why do Venus and Jupiter meet up in the sky so often? It's a symptom of a solar system that supports life on Earth

Two bright dots in the night sky.

Shortly after sunset on June 9, Venus and Jupiter will look very close together, in what is known as a planetary conjunction.

Sunlight will reflect off the cloudy tops of Venus and Jupiter before journeying millions of miles to enter Earth's sky in almost the same place, making the planets appear very close to one another on Tuesday (June 9). But in reality, the two planets will be separated by at least four Earth-sun distances in space.