In a very infrequent phenomena astronomers and sky watchers can witness two bright planets Venus and Jupiter in a planetary meet-up astronomically termed conjunction on the 1st of March. This will be a unique galactic event with both the planets only 0.52 degrees apart and with the moon too joining them bringing out its own ‘uniqueness to the array’.
Past confluence of Jupiter and Venus
On the evening of December 21, 2020, the two biggest planets in the solar system might both be covered by a fingertip held at arm’s length. That evening, a large number of people gathered outside to observe the duo, and pictures of the unusually close pairing quickly swamped social media. Late this month into March, a similar planetary confluence will take place. The two planets are the brightest in the solar system and can be seen with the unaided eye. While to the unaided eye two planets look close together in the sky, in reality they are separated by 64,14,44,000 km (64.14 crore km).
Rare ‘Three Fists’ Planetary Conjunction
The stars, planets, and other celestial objects are so far up that they continue to fascinate astronomy enthusiasts. Astronomy aficionados continue to have wonderful days since the cosmos is a vast, mysterious ball filled with shining objects and planetary motions and cycles. This time, on February 21, a cosmic dance between Jupiter and Venus, the two brightest planets, will start. On March 1, they will be near one another. This March, a spectacular cosmic event will occur when the rare green comet bids farewell before returning in 50,000 years.
Gradual process of Planetary meetup
In the beginning of February, it seemed as though the two planets were spaced apart by around “three fists.” The distance has, however, been decreasing with each passing day. On February 20, the separation between Jupiter and Venus was around nine degrees, but on February 27, it had allegedly shrunk to only 2.3 degrees.
The planets will be in an amazing alignment on March 1st evening, when they will be just 31 arcminutes and 0.52 degrees apart at their closest. At magnitude -4.0, Venus will be very bright—six times brighter than Jupiter, according to estimates. On the other hand, Sirius, the brightest star in the sky, will be twice as brilliant as Jupiter, which will be seen at magnitude -2.1.
Significance of Venus-Jupiter conjunction
The alignment of Venus and Jupiter do align in conjunction. Thus, the separation between them is what distinguishes this combination. Calculations by planetary motion specialist Jean Meeus suggest that the conjunctions between Venus and Jupiter occur on average every 13 months. This isn’t always the case, though, since every once in a while these two planets align in a triple conjunction that lasts for four months. Venus’s next triple conjunction with Jupiter is anticipated to take place in the spring and summer of 2036.
Locating the phenomena
Scientists will be able to pinpoint the exact location of where the two planets will dazzle the sky with their dance as the day draws closer. Nevertheless, they will only be in one binocular field of vision on March 1. It is usually recommended to get to the city’s outskirts where the sky is a little cleaner due to increased light pollution. Binoculars, a telescope, or both can be used to magnify the brilliant astronomical event. Till March 2, both planets may be seen in the sky, according to N Raghu Nandan Kumar, Director of the Planetary Society of India. From March 2, the same planets may be observed gradually drifting apart as the days go by.
Virtual Telescope Project
The Virtual Telescope Project will stream the event live for free on its website and YouTube channel for sky watchers who are unable to travel to view this busy day for the two-day-old moon. The live stream will begin on Wednesday, February 22, at 2:00 p.m. EST (1900 GMT). The iconic skyline of Rome, the Eternal City, is hung with magnificent celestial diamonds and The Virtual Telescope Project is prepared to share the image.
