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Tue, Dec 24, 2024 | Jumada al-Aakhirah 23, 1446 | DXB
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UAE: Rare parade of planets to light up skies
A planetary conjunction between Venus and Saturn will render them visible to the naked eye
Photo: Twitter/MBRSpaceCentre
A rare parade of planets will be visible in the night sky tonight (Sunday22) for UAE stargazers.
The country will witness a great conjunction between Venus and Saturn after sunset for an hour and a half, said Ibrahim Al Jarwan, chairman of the Emirates Astronomy Board.
The best part is that "it can be seen with the naked eye in the UAE in the absence of clouds", he added.
The planets will appear close enough together in the sky to be seen also through a telescope.
Venus is expected to outshine Saturn — and it will get even brighter as it continues to climb into the post-sunset sky as a brilliant “evening star.” It will appear to be brilliant white, and Saturn will appear as a dull yellow colour in the sky. The planetary pair will be only 0.4 degrees apart that evening.
According to space.com: “These two planets, plus a crescent moon, will be putting on an ever-changing display in the dusk during this weekend on into the start of next week. The planets will sink lower as the twilight deepens.”
Another take on Earthsky.org stated: “Very young waxing crescent moon – a little over a day old – (will hang) below the pair near the horizon.”
The website added that on January 25 and 26, the Moon will be near Jupiter.
“The waxing crescent moon shines below Jupiter after sunset on January 25, 2023, and above the planet on January 26. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, has been dominant in the evening sky for months.”
Explaining in detail the science behind such rare phenomenon, Sarath Raj, project director of Amity Dubai Satellite Ground Station and AmiSat, Amity University Dubai, earlier said: “The term ‘planetary alignment’ refers to the planets aligning at the same time. The planets orbit the sun along different paths at different speeds. The planets do not all revolve in the same plane properly in reality. Instead, they sway in a three-dimensional space on various orbits. They will never be exactly aligned because of this. As a result, planetary alignment does not imply a literal lining up, but rather that some of the planets are in the same broad sky region.”
In astronomy, a conjunction occurs when two celestial objects have the same right ascension or ecliptic longitude, as measured from Earth.
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Nandini Sircar
Nandini Sircar has a penchant for education, space, and women's narratives. She views the world through a prism of learning: whether it's the earthly pursuit of wisdom or the unearthly mysteries of space. In her written universe, women and children take centre stage.
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