New Delhi: In a rare celestial attraction, Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury will appear to crowd into tight quarters on Sunday evening.
This spectacular gathering of the three bright planets will be low in the south-western evening sky, just 30 to 45 minutes after sunset. This triple conjunction will have the three planets fitting within a circle smaller than 5 degrees.
Brilliant Jupiter (magnitude -1.9), medium-bright Mercury (-0.9), and dimmer, yellow-white Saturn (+0.6) will be contained within a 5-degree circle from Friday (January 8) to Tuesday (January 12), appearing closest together on Sunday evening.
Due to the rapid motion of speedy Mercury, relative to the two slow-moving giants —Jupiter and Saturn — the configuration will change noticeably from one evening to the next. The pattern has been changing from a stretched-out triangle on Friday to an almost equilateral triangle on Sunday.
Jupiter, the brightest of the trio, will be at the top of the triangle with Mercury and Saturn forming the base angles. The sides of the triangle each measure roughly 2 degrees.
This stunning spectacle might also mark the last evening view of Jupiter and Saturn. While Mercury will rise over the coming days, Jupiter and Saturn will be sinking into the sunset fires.
While Jupiter and possibly Mercury may be evident without optical aid, Saturn probably will not. In the evenings after Sunday, Saturn will disappear into the bright twilight first, closely followed by Jupiter around mid-month, India Today reported.
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