“Great Conjunction”… The UAE will witness an astronomical phenomenon tomorrow that has not occurred in 400 years

The International Astronomy Center announced that the countries of the world will witness tomorrow evening, Monday, December 21, 2020 AD, a rare astronomical phenomenon that has not occurred in 400 years. Some call it the “Great Conjunction,” which is an apparent approach in the sky between the planet Jupiter and the planet Saturn and can be easily seen with the naked eye, indicating that Residents of the country can watch the phenomenon half an hour after sunset (at 6:15 p.m.), when the two stars will appear very bright, and their viewing period will last approximately two and a half hours.

In detail, the Director of the International Astronomy Center, Engineer Muhammad Shawkat Odeh, explained that Jupiter needs 12 years to revolve one revolution around the sun, while Saturn needs 30 years. This means that for us, both planets approach each other once every 20 years. A year, and the distance between them is usually between one and two degrees, but what distinguishes the conjunction this year is that the distance between them will be only six minutes of arc, which is equal to a tenth of one degree! It is slightly less than a quarter of the apparent diameter of the Moon, and this distance is considered very small.

Odeh said: “The last time the conjunction occurred at such a distance was about 400 years ago, on July 16, 1623 AD. However, the irony is that this conjunction was only visible from areas close to the equator, because Jupiter and Saturn were close to the sun, and therefore It can be said that the last similar conjunction that could be seen from most regions of the Earth was 800 years ago, on March 5, 1226 AD, and the distance between them was only two arc minutes! The next similar pairing will be in the year 2080 AD, and the next in the year 2417 AD, God willing.

He added: “Contrary to what some sites mention, although the distance between the two planets will be very close, they will not unite and appear as a single body, as the distance between them is too short for this phenomenon to occur,” indicating that the real distance between the two planets is millions of kilometers, and this The phenomenon is merely an apparent convergence as seen from Earth.

Odeh continued: “It is known that the planets Jupiter and Saturn are very bright bodies that can be easily seen with the naked eye even from inside light-polluted cities. Jupiter is the brightest body in the sky after the sun, the moon, and Venus, and also the planet Saturn is one of the brightest celestial bodies. To watch this event Look to the west immediately after darkness falls, and you will notice a very bright white body above the western horizon. This is the planet Jupiter, and above it is another bright, golden-colored body, this is the planet Saturn.

He pointed out that if the public looks at the sky before December 21, they will also notice both objects, except that they will be farther away from each other, and the distance between them will decrease over the days until it reaches its minimum on the night of Monday, December 21, and they can be seen in the following days as well, except that The distance between them will increase, and Jupiter will be above Saturn.

He called on the public to follow the rare astronomical phenomenon and observe it from a place where the western horizon is exposed, because the two planets are relatively close to the horizon, and may be obscured by buildings or highlands, and not to delay too much after dark, as they will set about two and a half hours after sunset, while making sure to monitor from A place that is not dusty or cloudy, so as not to obscure or impair vision.