Venus and Jupiter were seen near each other in the skies last night during a rare conjunction event. 

The planets, which are hundreds of millions of miles apart, became cosmic neighbours due to a line-of-sight illusion. 

Andy Mitchell captured the picture above from Weymouth. 

The two brightest planets as seen from Earth, appeared roughly two thirds of a full moon's width apart.

The spectacle, which will not be visible from the UK again until November 2019, could be seen through a small telescope or binoculars between 10.30pm and 11pm above the western horizon.

The planets were set to appear 22 minutes of arc apart. An arc is the measurement used in astronomy to describe the size and position of an object in the night sky. The full moon is 30 minutes of arc across.

At relatively low magnification Jupiter can be seen as a small circular disc accompanied by four bright moons. Venus will be a fat crescent.

Venus is currently around 56 million miles from Earth, while Jupiter is 559 million miles away.

The planets will start to go their separate ways again, with Venus below Jupiter.

Send your pictures to digital@bournemouthecho.co.uk