Poornaprajna Amateur Astronomers’ Club (PAAC), Udupi, will organise a sky-watch programme for the people at Poornaprajna College on December 21 from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. to watch the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn, the two slow-moving planets.
According to the club, Jupiter, which is five times farther from the sun than the Earth, takes 11.86 years to complete one circle around the sun. Saturn, at twice the distance, takes 29.46 years to complete one revolution. It takes 20 years for them to come close and cause a conjunction. When these two giants are in conjunction, it is called ‘Great Conjunction’.
December 21 is also the day of the Winter Solstice which is significant in astronomy. This is when the sun appears southernmost at noon. Beginning this day, the sun will appear to move towards the north with each passing day. There will be a live stream of the telescopic view of this event on YouTube.
