Dubai, United Arab Emirates (CNN) – Last Monday evening, the world witnessed the convergence of the two largest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, to the maximum for nearly 400 years.
A phenomenon known as the “Great Coupling” created a bright scattering in the night sky, immortalized by many amazing shots from all over the world.
This astronomical phenomenon was called the “Christmas Star”, but the fact that this phenomenon occurred days before Christmas and coincided with the winter solstice is purely a coincidence of time.
The two largest planets in the solar system were only 0.1 degrees apart, about a fifth of the diameter of the moon when it was full, according to the Royal Astronomical Society in the United Kingdom.
And if you missed this phenomenon on Monday night, or the sky was not clear at the time where you are, then do not worry, as it seems that the two planets are diverging very slowly, and they will remain close to each other during the coming days.
And those near the equator have the best conditions for viewing the astronomical phenomenon.
Jupiter will appear brighter and more easily visible. Last Monday, Jupiter overtook Saturn, and the former will now appear above slightly faint Saturn.
While observational instruments may show the two planets, Jupiter and Saturn, close together, this is purely an optical effect, as they were about 800 million kilometers separated on Monday, even though they appeared close to each other from Earth’s perspective.
An exceptionally rare event
According to the Royal Astronomical Society, such close conjunctions are rare, and Jupiter and Saturn were last seen in such proximity in 1623.
At that time, 397 years ago, the two planets were close to the sun in the sky, so it was difficult to witness the astronomical event.
The association added in a statement that the last time the two planets were so close and easy to see was in 1226, long before the invention of the telescope.
If you miss this phenomenon, and you want to see the two planets in the same proximity, it will not happen until March 15, 2080, and then it will not happen again until after the year 2400.
Astronomer Patrick Hartigan, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University in Houston, said the further north you traveled the less time you could see the conjunction before the planets disappeared below the horizon.
The UK’s Royal Astronomical Society explained that it is important to find a line of sight without tall buildings or trees that block visibility as the planets drop in the southwest after sunset.
By looking with the naked eye, the two planets will appear as bright points of light, while binoculars will show these two points slightly larger, and viewers may also be able to identify the four largest moons of Jupiter, and perhaps the largest moons of Saturn, which is known as “Titan”.
With a small telescope, the two planets will be in the same field of view, which is an extremely rare event, and the belts of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn will be visible.
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