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Planetary conjunction between Venus and Saturn will make them visible to the naked eye
Photos: Reuters, NASA
UAE sky watchers will see a rare parade of planets in the night sky this weekend.
On Sunday, the UAE will witness a grand conjunction of Venus and Saturn, an hour and a half after sunset.
Ibrahim Al Jarwan, Chairman of the UAE Astronomical Council, sheds light on the astronomical phenomenon, saying: “The planetary conjunction between ‘Venus’ and ‘Saturn’ will occur an hour and a half after sunset on Sunday, January 22. In cloudless conditions Now, it can be seen with the naked eye in the UAE.”
The planets appear close enough in the sky to be seen through telescopes and the naked eye, and their conjunctions are visible across the globe.
According to space.com, “These two planets, along with the new moon, will present a changing scene in the twilight of this weekend and early next week. As the twilight deepens, the planets will sink.”
Venus will be even brighter than Saturn – getting brighter as it continues to climb into the post-sunset sky as a brilliant “evening star.” It will appear bright white, while Saturn appears dull yellow in the sky. That night, the pair of planets will be separated by only 0.4 degrees.
According to Earthsky.org, “very young first quarter Moons — a little over a day — (will hang) below a pair near the horizon.”
The site also notes that on January 25-26, the moon will be in close proximity to Jupiter.
“After sunset on January 25, 2023, the new moon shines below Jupiter and above Earth on January 26. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has dominated the night sky for months.”
Explaining in detail the science behind this rare phenomenon, Sarath Raj, Project Director of Dubai Satellite Ground Station and AmiSat at Friendship University in Dubai, said earlier,
“The term ‘planetary alignment’ refers to the simultaneous alignment of the planets. The planets orbit the sun at different speeds and along different paths. In reality, the planets do not all rotate properly in the same plane. Instead, they are in different orbits As a result, they are never perfectly aligned. So planetary alignment does not imply a literal alignment, but a number of planets in the same vast region of the sky.”
In astronomy, a conjunction occurs when two celestial bodies have the same right ascension or ecliptic ascension (measured from Earth).
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