Rare celestial spectacle: Jupiter, Venus to appear to collide with each other, form line with Saturn, Mars

In what can be called a rare celestial spectacle, the solar system’s two brightest planets, Jupiter and Venus, will appear to collide with each other this weekend, said media reports.

But they will actually be millions of miles apart in space.

On Earth, they will appear as if they are going to collide. This planetary conjunction, however, occurs once a year.

These planets will look much closer to stargazers than usual this year. This time, they would also be visible with a pair of binoculars or the naked eye.

What makes it more special is the fact that with these planets, Saturn and Mars will appear to form a straight line.

You may not want to miss it this year as otherwise you will have to wait for another 17 years for it.

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So, this would be an extraordinary planetary conjunction, which will be hard to miss.

“Although Venus and Jupiter get close to one another every few years, this time there is also Mars and Saturn in the mix which is pretty rare. If you have a telescope, a pair of binoculars or a decent camera, then you’ll get an even better view,” Brad Tucker, astrophysicist, Australian National University told the Guardian.

“The planets will differ in their brightness. Venus is brighter than Jupiter so it will look dazzlingly bright when you see it. Jupiter will be slightly fainter, about one-sixth of the brightness of Venus,” Prof Lucie Green, chief stargazer, Society for Popular Astronomy told BBC News.

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(With inputs from agencies)