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Jupiter, Saturn to align in 'great conjunction' today: How and when you can watch it

Updated : December 21, 2020 01:33 PM IST

People interested can watch it directly with the naked eye without any fear.

Saturn will be the smaller, fainter blob at Jupiter’s upper right.

Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 450 million miles (730 million kilometres) apart.

Millions across the globe are waiting eagerly to see the Great Conjunction—a rare celestial event in which Jupiter and Saturn align to form a bright speck in the night sky.

While both planets appear to come close to each other once in every two decades, two factors make today’s event special.

One, the planets are coming this close to each other for the first time in 400 years. Secondly, it has been nearly eight centuries since the event took place at night.

Over the past several days, the two planets have increasingly moved close to each other, and have been photographed together.

(Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)

However, even as the two planets appear to align as viewed from Earth, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 450 million miles (730 million kilometres) apart.

Earth, meanwhile, will be 550 million miles (890 million kilometres) from Jupiter.

When will it happen?

The rare celestial phenomenon will take place today evening. People interested in the event can witness it today between 6.30 pm and 7.30 pm on the skies and could see both planets coming so close to each other that the gap between both planets appears less than a tenth of a degree.

One must look to the southwest fairly low on the horizon. Saturn will be the smaller, fainter blob at Jupiter’s upper right.

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

How to watch

People interested can watch it directly with the naked eye without any fear. Binoculars will be needed to see the planets separately. The event can be seen from any part of the planet, but one will need a bit of luck as clear skies without any cloud disturbance is a must to watch the event in full clarity.

When will the event be viewed again?

The next time the planets will come this close will be on March 15, 2080.

-with agency inputs

Jupiter, Saturn to align in 'great conjunction' today: How and when you can watch it

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