Hyderabad: One of the exciting celestial events of the year ”Jupiter Opposition with Sun” will occur at 1.03 AM on Tuesday.
Planetary Society of India (PSI) Director N Sri Raghunandan Kumar in a release here on Monday said as a result of this, celestial phenomenon Planet Jupiter (Bruhaspati/Guru) is now closest to Earth.
In view of Jupiter being closest to earth, it is now the brightest and appears bigger than anytime in the entire year.
This year Jupiter Opposition (which is once in 13 months annual event) coincides with “Perihelion of Jupiter to Sun” in a few months.
Hence, Jupiter tomorrow, would be closest in the last 59 years as per NASA Data.
A planet (during the course of its journey around the sun) is said to be at opposition when it is directly opposite the Sun from our viewpoint on Earth. Importantly during opposition the planet in question would be at its closest approach to earth and thus would appear bigger and brighter than usual, Mr Kumar said.
Stating that Jupiter oppositions occur once every 13 months, he said the last opposition of Jupiter occurred on August 21, 2021 and next would be on November 3, 2023.
Though the planet is in opposition for only one day, nevertheless for visual purposes it is almost as good for viewing for a couple of weeks to a month before and after opposition.
On September 27, if one can see our solar system from above, they would see the Sun and Jupiter on either side of earth wherein all these three celestial bodies appear in a Line. This kind of alignment is not possible in other parts of the year as location of Jupiter and Earth in their respective orbits and distance varies.
Further, the PSI Director said due to Opposition, people can easily locate Jupiter looking in the opposite direction to Sun Set in the evening and look in the opposite direction of Sunrise to locate Jupiter in the morning.
All in all due to Jupiter Opposition, as the Sun sets in the west, Jupiter rises (east) in the evening. Whereas as the Sun rises in the Morning, Jupiter sets in the west. All this means Jupiter right now is visible all over the night due to Opposition tomorrow, he added.
