Jupiter, Venus to come extremely close on March 1 in a rare conjunction. Where to watch?
The event being hailed as the “the perfect trifecta” has created a buzz among astronomy enthusiasts as people are on a photo spree to share images of the night sky as they wait for the final showdown.
With each passing day, people are gearing up to witness a rare celestial event of a conjunction between the brightest planets Venus and Jupiter, in which the Moon is also dancing along. At the beginning of February, the two planets were about 29 degrees apart, however on March 1, they will come extremely close to each other, separated by merely 0.52 degrees in a rare event.
Both Jupiter and Venus have been observed inching a little closer in the sky these nights. “There’s a meetup happening in the western sky: the crescent Moon sits close to Jupiter, with Venus below them. Jupiter and Venus will continue to cosy up until March 1, when they’ll be at their closest,” space agency NASA tweeted Saturday, sharing a photo of the event in the making.
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The event being hailed as the “the perfect trifecta” has created a buzz among astronomy enthusiasts as people are on a photo spree to share images of the night sky as they wait for the final showdown.
A Twitter user @Garrpyl even took a step ahead and shared a stunning timelapse of one of the nights which captured the movement of the three celestial bodies as observed from the Earth through the night.
“Timelapse taken at my local dog park a couple of nights ago,” he replied on NASA’s tweet.
What is the significance of conjunction?
About the event, NASA explained in one of the past blogs that conjunctions do not have any profound astronomical significance but they are mesmerising to look at. “In our Solar System, conjunctions occur frequently between planets because the planets orbit around the Sun in approximately the same plane – the ecliptic plane – and thus trace similar paths across our sky," it said.
How to watch?
One can look towards the west-southwest horizon, an hour after the sunset to witness the grand spectacle. Under ideal conditions and low pollution levels, the event can be observed without the help of any special equipment. However, a pair of binoculars can always optimise the viewing experience.
