Attention stargazers! There will be a rare phenomenon occurring this coming Monday as Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, will light up the night sky brighter than ever.
In what astronomers have described as “one of the most spectacular events visible” this year the planet will appear like a bright star next to the moon.
According to David Moore, editor of Astronomy Ireland magazine: “This is definitely an event for your ‘bucket list’, seeing the two brightest objects in the night sky closer than you will ever see them again in your life.” “It is really only a line-of-sight effect with Jupiter being 2,000 times further away than the Moon, but to the general public it will look like the two brightest objects in the night sky will be beside one another in the most impressive display the Moon can ever put on with another celestial object!”
The amazing event will occur due to the fact that Jupiter is at its closest point to the Earth ever making it visible all over the world. The two planets will technically be closest on Sunday night, but will be visible on Monday night. Meanwhile Astronomy Ireland say they will be setting up powerful high tech telescopes to watch the amzing sight in great detail.
Mr Moore further explained: “The Moon is always stunning in a telescope, with thousands of craters peppering its surface and vast lava plains and huge mountains all visible in the giant telescopes.”
“It’s an amazing sight that never fails to amaze me even after years of seeing it in a large telescope. “Those who stay until after 10pm will even get to see the Great Red Spot on Jupiter which is the biggest storm in the solar system, bigger than Earth, and has been ‘blowing’ with 500 km/h winds for over 300 years!”