Hyderabad: Preceding Wednesday’s solar eclipse, astronomy buffs will witness a rare sight on Tuesday when Jupiter will be closest to Earth and will be brightly lit up by the sun.
According to the Planetary Society of India, a planet during the course of its journey around the sun is said to be at opposition when it is directly opposite the sun on the other side of the Earth.
At this time, the planet, Earth and the sun will be in a straight line. This also brings the planet to its closest approach to Earth. Because of their relative positions during this period, Jupiter will rise in the east as the sun sets in the west.
The planet is fully illuminated by the sun and appears disk-like. Though the opposition of Jupiter occurs on Tuesday, visually the planet appears bright for almost a fortnight.
A Jupiter opposition occurs every 13 months. The last opposition of Jupiter occurred on February 6, 2015, and the next will be on April 8 next year.
On Tuesday, Jupiter will be 588 million kms away from Earth, against its maximum distance that comes to 967 million kms.
