Jupiter And Saturn To Look Like ‘Double Planet’ In 800 Years

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What is going to happen?

The two gas giants will be just 0.06º apart, forming an incredible ‘double planet’ that will give stargazers the rarest of treats.
Known as the Great Conjunction, the celestial event will take place on the night of December 21, 2020.

A double planet is an informal term used to describe two planets that orbit each other about a common center of mass that is not located within the interior of either planet.
The formal term is “binary system”.
Similarly, there are also double asteroid.
There has been some debate in the past on precisely where to draw the line between a double-planet and a planet-moon system.

Two of the largest planets of our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, will appear close and will look like a ‘double planet’.
What’s even more intriguing is that it is something that last happened nearly 800 years ago.

The last time these two planets were this close together was back in 1623 – but at 13º east of the sun.
This time it will be just 06º apart.
If you’re looking for a Great Conjunction that was actually visible, you’d have to go even further back to March 4, 1226.
The spectacle in December will be visible across the world – providing we don’t suffer from dreaded cloud cover on the night it occurs.
Jupiter and Saturn have been moving closer together in the night sky since the summer.
It will be separated by less than the diameter of a full moon from December 16 through to Christmas Day.

If you do miss it, you’ll have another chance to catch Jupiter and Saturn forming a ‘double planet’ later this century.
Set a reminder in your diary for March 15, 2089.

Q) Which of the following part of the Sun is visible at the time of the eclipse?