[ad_1]
Astronomers and interested people from around the world, on the night of Monday, December 21, 2020, observed the phenomenon of the great conjunction between the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn.
Astronomers and interested people from around the world, on the night of Monday, December 21, 2020, observed the phenomenon of the great conjunction between the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn.
The great conjunction occurs when the paths of the two planets, which are separated by hundreds of millions of kilometers, intersect and get so close that they appear in the sky as if they were touching, giving the impression that they merge and shine like a single planet.
The rapprochement between the two planets began a few months ago, but reached its climax tonight.
The pairing marks the night of the winter solstice, which is considered the longest night in the northern hemisphere.
To see this phenomenon, Florent Delphi of the Paris Observatory (BSL) said: “By using a small observing instrument that can be simply a telescope, we will be able to see the two equatorial belts of Jupiter and its main moons, with the rings of Saturn in a frame “.
The last great conjunction dates from the year 2000, but the difference between the two planets was not insignificant insofar as the world will witness Monday from 1623, and the world will not witness an event similar to this degree of convergence between the two planets before March 15, 2080, and the scene will last a few tens of minutes.
Florent Delphi of the Paris Observatory (BSL) explained that the “Great Conjunction” is “the time that the two planets take to reach similar relative positions with respect to Earth.”
Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system, orbits the sun in 12 years, while Saturn’s cycle lasts 29 years, and every twenty years or so, the two planets appear to converge when looking at the sky from Earth.
Source: Agencies
[ad_2]
