Jupiter, Venus To Be Visible Close Together On March 1 In Rare Event

Bhubaneswar: Skygazers can witness a rare celestial phenomenon in night sky of a conjunction between the brightest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Venus. People of Odisha will also be able to watch the rare event on March 1.

The two planets, which were about 29 degrees apart at the beginning of February, are gradually moving closer and will come extremely close to each other on March 1, separated by merely 0.52 degrees in a rare event, sources said.

Both Jupiter and Venus have been observed moving closer in the sky during night. Though they look closer in the sky, the distance between the two planets is very high, said deputy director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium Subhendu Pattnaik.

Stating that the two planets appear very close in the sky once in two to 2.5 years, he said the rare event is taking place because of the change in angle between the planets which come in a straight line with the earth. On March 1, both the planets will be just around 0.52 degrees apart.

People can watch the event with a naked eye without any problem, said Pattnaik.

Sources said the planets will be closest on March 1 evening, just 0.52 degrees apart. Jupiter will shine at magnitude -2.1 and Venus will be blazing at magnitude -4.0. The moon will also join the party in the rare phenomenon.

Space scientists call the event as the “the perfect trifecta” and people are on a photo spree to share images of the night sky.