Venus and Jupiter align to create spectacle in the sky

Jupiter and Venus are hundreds of millions miles apart but they have lined up with the moon to light up the morning sky.

The phenomenon, known as a conjunction, resulted in the two planets being visible in the same section of the sky at around 6am on Thursday morning.

Venus appears a lot brighter in the sky due to it being far closer to the sun than Jupiter, the solar system's largest planet.

Around 14 planetary conjunctions are anticipated to take place this year.

Although not rare there is no doubting the beauty of the conjunction, which could be seen across the world as many social media users posted photos of the phenomenon.