Jupiter and Saturn, the two planets in our solar system aligned the closest to each other on December 21, resulting in a ‘conjunction’. Twitter was flooded with pictures and videos of the phenomena.
In the once-in-a-lifetime wonder, Jupiter and Saturn will cross within .1 degrees of each other (a fraction of the width of the full Moon), meeting to form a ‘double planet when seen from Earth.
The great conjunction will be witnessed in the night sky on Monday between 6.30-7.30 pm. To get a better view of the celestial event, one will need binoculars or a small telescope. It will give you a better view of the planets along with the four moons orbiting around Jupiter.
Such wondrous event was last observed nearly 400 hundred years ago, in 1623 and the next one is likely to take place in 2080. On July 16, 1623, the two planets were 5’10” (five minutes 10 seconds) from each other compared to 6’06” of arc on December 21. There have been only two more examples where Jupiter and Saturn have come nearly as close as what we will witness this year.
According to NASA, Saturn will be slightly fainter as it will appear to be above the largest planet of our solar system from the left. The positions will be reversed after December 21. On the other side, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru has made arrangements to witness the celestial conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn planets.
#jupitersaturnconjunction made rounds of Twitter as people shared pictures and videos of the phenomenon.
