Jupiter and Saturn are bound in the sky next Monday night, to be closer to each other than at any time since the time of the famous astronomer Galileo in the seventeenth century.
Astronomers said that coupling between the two largest planets in our solar system is not rare, as Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in their successive orbits around the sun every 20 years.
But the next conjunction is very close, as the two planets will be only a tenth of degrees away from our perspective, or about a fifth of the area of the full moon, and they will be easily visible around the world shortly after sunset if weather permits.
David Weintraub, a professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University, said, “The most rare is the close conjunction that will occur in our sky at night. I think it is fair to say that such an event may occur once in a person’s lifetime, and this is what makes it bear the characteristic (rare) or (severe). Privacy) “.
This will be the closest conjunction of the two planets since July 1623, when the two planets appeared a little closer, but that conjunction was difficult to see because of its proximity to the sun.
The clearest and closest conjunction was in March 1226 when Genghis Khan was invading Asia, and next Monday’s coupling will be the closest visible coupling since then.
To see the conjunction, prepare a little after sunset on Monday, and look southwest from the horizon, and Saturn will be smaller and less luminous than Jupiter and located on the upper side to the right of Jupiter.
Despite what they look like, Jupiter and Saturn will in fact be 450 million miles from each other, while Earth will be 550 million miles away from Jupiter, and the next close conjunction will be on March 15, 2080.
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