Kabarni – President of the Jordanian Astronomical Society, Ammar Al-Saqji, Jordan is on a date with an astronomical event called “the conjunction”, where there is an opposition between the planet Jupiter and the Sun at 7:51 a.m. next Friday.

Viewing of Jupiter starts at 5:42 PM on Friday from the Jordanian sky, which is observed at different times in countries around the world, and Jupiter’s rising time is in Aries, and Jupiter’s end is visible by looking at the side opposite to the setting sun.

A “conjunction” in astronomy occurs when two celestial bodies are on opposite sides of each other, such that for an observer on Earth the angular length between them is approximately 180 degrees, which according to al-Saqji is the annual chance of seeing the giant planet since the Earth is between it and the Sun.

In this geometric situation, Jupiter appears as a large bright spot, reflecting 100% of the rays falling on it, and Jupiter’s disk is bright, and Jupiter is “as close as possible. Earth, that is, at the perihelion point, on the night of Wednesday/Thursday, November 1-2, to Jupiter.” The distance between Earth and Earth is about 595 million kilometers.

He said this is a good time to observe Jupiter’s most famous moons, or the Galilean moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, using a small telescope or monitor. Above all stars, it dazzles us with its brightness throughout the night, magnitude -2.91.

Al-Saqji pointed out, “To see Jupiter easily, one can look eastward and see the bright celestial body in the dome of the sky from sunset to midnight or on the day of opposition, i.e. Friday. After sunset, Jupiter can be seen rising and crossing the sky throughout the night.”

The Arabs gave this name to Jupiter because it continued unbroken in its course, it was given this name because of its beneficence and beauty, and it was said to be the planet of buying and selling. Joy and hope, and it was of interest to the ancient Arab tribes.

Jupiter is a gas planet, the fifth closest to the Sun, the oldest in the Solar System and the second brightest planet in the sky after Venus. It is considered the “largest and most massive” planet in the Solar System, with a mass equal to 318 Earth masses and a mass of 1,300 Earth masses. Jupiter has 95 moons of the same size. The last updated orbits were confirmed on October 23, 2023.

Since Jupiter takes 11.86 Earth years to complete its revolution around the Sun, and Earth takes one year to orbit the Sun, this astronomical event “conjunction” repeats itself every 13 months, and the next opposition occurs in December. 6, 2024, and Jupiter will be in Taurus.