Watch out for brightest Jupiter on July 9

Keep your telescopes handy for a wonderful celestial activity - Jupiter will shine at its brightest when it aligns directly with the Sun and Earth on Wednesday.

“It is an interesting phenomenon as Jupiter and Earth would be in a straight line. Both the planets come closest at this time of the year and Jupiter, in turn, shines at its brightest,” said Nehru Planetarium director N. Ratnashree.

Ratnashree said if we could see Earth from Jupiter then it would be passing in front of the Sun.

The planetarium will put out a telescope for people interested in watching the planets from the Nehru Memorial.

“We want people to come and watch the event. If the weather is clear, we could have the clearest view of Jupiter and its moons from Earth,” Rathnashree said.

This celestial event will be followed by a solar eclipse on Aug 1.

“The solar eclipse will be seen partially in India, but there is likely to be considerable excitement arising from the fact that a large fraction of the eclipse would be seen from the northern parts of the country,” Ratnashree said.