Jupiter and Saturn will merge after centuries to form ‘greater conjunction’

The two planets Jupiter and Saturn will look like a single star on the 21st night. Both planets will appear to the southwest on the horizon immediately after sunset.

According to the reports, both planets will be visible from over the world, including Pakistan. In actuality, they will be at a distance of 735 million km.

Previously they were seen together so close to each other on July 16, 1623. At that time i.e. 397 years ago, they were at a distance of 5 arc minutes.

Before that, the two planets Jupiter and Saturn were seen this close together in medieval times, in 1226.

How it is happened?

When celestial bodies align, astronomers call it conjunction, but since this one involves our solar system’s two biggest gas giants, it’s technically a “great conjunction.”

Great conjunctions happen when Jupiter, which laps the sun in a shade under 12 years, and Saturn, which orbits every 29.5 years, come into near alignment with the Earth.

This year, the planets will appear in the sky one-fifth of the width of a full moon apart. The event coincides with the winter solstice, when the tilt of the northern hemisphere away from the sun produces the shortest day and the longest night.

When it will be visible Again?

According to Scientific Calculations, the next time these two huge gas planets will come closer on March 15, 2080. That means you can see a similar phenomenon after approx a gap of 60 years.