LUCKNOW, June 10 -- Amidst cloud cover, Lucknow's sky became a canvas for a rare show on Monday evening as Venus and Jupiter moved so close they looked like one bright star.

Astronomers call it a "planetary conjunction" - when two planets appear less than 3 degrees apart. This time, the gap was just 1 degree 36 arcminutes, about 1.6 degrees. From Earth, it was a cosmic kiss between the two brightest planets in our Solar System, said Sumit Srivastava, scientific officer at the Indira Gandhi Planetarium.

"The last time Venus and Jupiter came this close was 1 March 2023, at just 0.5 degrees. The next 'exceptionally close' meeting will be on 10 November 2028, when they'll be 0.8 degrees apart in the pre-dawn sky," said Srivastava.

Over 2,5...