The two planets have never been so close since 1623.
Kolkata:
Space enthusiasts had the opportunity to watch a rare celestial event on Monday evening-as the Jupiter and the Saturn appeared to merge and looked-like a single bright star, in what is called a conjunction.
People gathered to watch the phenomenon, which took place after about 400 years, on rooftops and open grounds in-different parts of Kolkata and West Bengal though the winter-fog partially hindered the view.
Hundreds of sky gazers assembled at the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum in the city as the leading-science museum has made an arrangement for them to view the-cosmic event at the south-western part of the sky through a-telescope, a BITM spokesman said.
The two planets have never been so close since 1623,-Director of M P Birla Planetarium, Debi Prasad Duari, said.
He said, “If two celestial bodies visually appear close to each other from the Earth, it is called a conjunction. And such conjunction of the Saturn and the-Jupiter is at times called a great conjunction” if it happens-once in a lifetime.
The planets will again appear to come as close as this-from the Earth on March 15, 2080.
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