Just before sunrise on Monday, Aug. 16, Jupiter, the Roman king of the gods, and Venus, the goddess of love, will join together in the east-northeastern sky.

That is to say, positioned in the predawn horizon, the planets of Jupiter and Venus will fall into a very rare and very close alignment known as conjunction -- that will make it appear as if the elegant gas giant and much smaller ball of sun-scorched rock will share a cosmic kiss, according to a news release from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

The two planets last lined-up in conjunction 14 years ago.

Of course, Jupiter and Venus, vastly different in size, are also separated by great distances and composed of very different materials.

Jupiter -- with a total mass of about 318 earths, approximately 2.5 times the mass of all the other planets of the solar system put together -- is an enormous ball of gas made mainly of hydrogen and helium.

Venus, on the other hand, is rocky and similar to Earth's gravity and size.

Jupiter also has 63 naturally-occurring satellites, while Venus has none.

The diameter of Jupiter is 12 times that of Venus -- which is why, even though it's a huge distance from Earth, still appears from our perspective bigger in diameter.

Venus is closer to the sun and us and, as a result, wins out over Jupiter in luminosity, as seen from earth.

Both the planets are moving in opposite directions in the night sky -- with Venus dipping towards the rising sun and Jupiter rising away from it.

Yet, the different trajectories have visually left the planets approaching each other's positions over the last week.

Ultimately, the two will end up about less than one-third of a degree apart 30 minutes or so before sunrise, resembling a double star and the pairing happens once in many years.

Then, on Aug. 19 and the following nights, the two planets will appear to move away from each other rapidly.