Indian Thought Latest News & Views
New Delhi: After almost 60 years, an extremely rare event is going to happen in our solar system today, when Jupiter will come closest to Earth. Jupiter’s maximum distance from Earth is 600 million miles. Today it will be closest to Earth at a distance of 367 million miles. The next time this planet will come near the Earth after a full 107 years i.e. in 2129.
It takes 11 years for Jupiter to make one complete revolution around the Sun. During this revolution, Jupiter reaches in the opposite direction to the Sun and it becomes visible from the Earth as well. The position of this Sun-Earth-Jupiter is called Jupiter @ Opposite. Interestingly, today Jupiter will be in a unique arrangement in its orbit which will bring it closest to Earth after 59 years.
The largest planet in the Solar System will be visible in the sky with a magnitude of -2.9, making it appear even brighter and larger. According to media reports, this planet will remain in the sky throughout the night from 5:29 pm today to 5:31 am tomorrow.
How will you be able to see this rare event?
With a good telescope so that three or four Galilean satellites (moons) can be seen. It is important to remember that Galileo observed these moons with optics from the 17th century. “One of the key requirements for any system you use will be a ‘stable mount,'” said Adam Kobelsky, a research astrophysicist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
To view Jupiter’s Great Red Spot and bands in additional detail, Kobelsky recommends using a 4-inch or larger telescope. Using a few filters in the green to blue range would help make its characteristics more prominent, he said.
According to astrophysicists, this rare phenomenon can be seen from high altitude region which is dark and dry. “The incident can be seen before and even after September 26,” he said.
