Paris (AFP)
The two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, came together as close as possible on Monday during a "Great conjunction" as the astronomers call it, which will not recur until 2080 in such proportions.
At 6:22 p.m. GMT (7:22 p.m. Paris time), the two gas giants appeared in the same field of view of an observation instrument, giving the impression of brushing against each other when they were actually located at more than 730 million kilometers from each other.
The best viewing conditions were in areas near the equator, while in Western Europe, and much of Africa, you had to look to the southwest.
In India, hundreds of astronomy fans gathered at the Birla Industrial and Technological Museum in Calcutta, where they could admire the cosmic dance through a telescope.
This unusual rendezvous happened by chance on the day of the winter solstice for the northern hemisphere.
The apparent rapprochement between the two planets had already started for several months, before reaching a minimum distance on Monday almost giving the impression that the two stars in the sky were one.
"The Great conjunction" corresponds "to the time it takes for the two planets to find similar relative positions with respect to the Earth", had explained to AFP before the event Florent Deleflie, of the Paris Observatory - PSL.
Jupiter, the largest, circles the Sun in 12 years, Saturn in 29 years.
And every twenty years or so, the two planets seem to come closer when we observe the celestial vault from Earth.
To the naked eye, the rapprochement will give the impression of a double planet, "Jupiter and Saturn being two very luminous stars", he had detailed.
The last Great Conjunction took place in 2000, but we have to go back to 1623 to find a gap as small as that of Monday.
And before finding such a close conjunction, we will have to wait ... March 15, 2080.
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