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FRANCE – The two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, will be within range of planetary kisses in Monday’s night sky, an intimacy that won’t happen again until 2080.
This “great conjunction”, as astronomers know it, happens fortuitously at the winter solstice for those in the northern hemisphere and the beginning of summer in the global south.
In fact, the two planets will be separated by more than 730 million kilometers.
But because of their alignment relative to Earth, they will appear to be closer to each other than at any other time in nearly 400 years.
The optimal “conjunction” will take place at 1822 GMT.
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Looking through a telescope or even a good pair of binoculars, the two gas giants will be separated by no more than a fifth of the diameter of a full moon.
At first glance, they will merge into a “highly luminous” double planet, said Florent Deleflie of the Paris Observatory.
The last time Jupiter and Saturn got this close was in 1623, but weather conditions in regions where the meeting could be seen blocked the view.
Visibility was apparently better earlier than during the Middle Ages, on March 4, 1226 to be precise.
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The best viewing conditions on Monday will be in clear skies and near the Equator.
People in Western Europe and a vast swath of Africa will have to turn their eyes to the southwest.
“The Great Conjunction refers to the period when two planets have relatively similar positions relative to Earth,” Deleflie said.
Jupiter, which is the largest planet, takes 12 years to orbit the sun, while Saturn takes 29 years.
About every 20 years, it appears to observers on Earth that they get closer to each other.
“With a small instrument, even a small pair of binoculars, people can see the equatorial bands of Jupiter and its main satellites and the rings of Saturn,” Deleflie said.
