15 December 2020 12:04 am
Saturn and Jupiter will get into conjunction with each other
A spectacular astronomical event will be visible to the naked eye on the night of December 21 when Saturn and Jupiter will get into conjunction with each other creating a huge fireball in the night sky.
Professor Chandana Jayaratne of the Department of Physics at the Colombo University told Daily Mirror that the event will be visible to the naked eye from 5.30 pm in the form of a fireball on December 21 this year.
Since Jupiter takes a little less than 12 years to circle the sun and Saturn more than 29 years, the two planets appear to earthlings to meet roughly and the astronomers call it a ‘great conjunction.’
“The specialty about the event is that the conjunction of the planets is that it will be visible after 300 years,” Professor Jayaratne said.
The event was last visible in the year 1623 AD and it is expected to be visible to the naked eye again only in 2080.