NEW DELHI: The two brightest planets in the sky , Venus and Jupiter, will appear so close to each other over the next couple of evenings that they would almost seem like a single super-bright star.
The rare celestial event that is generating a buzz among sky enthusiasts across the world, is being compared with the biblical `Star of Bethlehem’ because of speculation that it was a similar Venus-Jupiter conjunction that’s said to have revealed the birth of Jesus. “At the closest time of the conjunction, the two planets only be one-third of a degree apart in the sky . This span is less than the apparent size of the moon,” said N Rathnasree, director of Delhi’s Nehru Planetarium.
Clouds permitting, the event will be visible in the western sky just after sunset from anywhere in the country .Rathnasree said India would miss the closest approach of the two planets -when they would appear as one -which would take place at 9am, India time, on Wednesday . “However, the two planets will be close enough on Tuesday and Wednesday evening to be a vi sual treat,” she said. Of course, Venus and Jupiter would not physically be coming close to each but would appear so because their positions would almost form a straight line with Earth. Such events are known as conjunctions. The Nehru Planetarium will be conducting a skywatch with telescopes on Wednesday . It will start from sunset and will conclude by 8.30pm, Rathnasree said.
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