The sky this Wednesday (25) brings the conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter

After “passing” Saturn, the Moon will continue its January “monthly tour” by “visiting” Jupiter this Wednesday (25), sharing the same right ascension with the largest planet in the Solar System, in a phenomenon known as an astronomical conjunction.

This will happen at 11:03pm (noting that all times mentioned here are based on the Brasilia time zone). In Brazil, the duo will be visible from 10:01, remaining accessible until just before settling down, at 22:07. This data is based on an observer based in São Paulo and varies by location.

Almost simultaneously, the call to applyterm referring to the slightest apparent separation between two bodies in the sky, according to the astronomy guide Starwalk space.

What differentiates the two expressions is that, although the term “conjunction” is also commonly used to represent an apparent approximation between two bodies, technically the astronomical conjunction occurs only when the two objects share the same right ascension (astronomical coordinates equivalent to Earth’s longitude).

The stars will be 1°48′ apart, which is not close enough to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but close enough to be visible with the naked eye or binoculars.

According to the astronomical guide In-The-Sky.org, the Moon will be -11.2 magnitude, while Jupiter will be -2.2, both in the constellation Pisces. The brighter an object appears, the lower its magnitude value (inverse relationship). The Sun, for example, which is the brightest body in the sky, has an apparent magnitude of -27.

The next planets in conjunction with the Moon in January will be Uranus (29) and Mars (31), who have already received his visit this month.

This series of conjunctions occurs because our natural satellite orbits the Earth in approximately the same plane that the planets orbit the Sun, called the plane of the ecliptic.

This Wednesday’s Sky post (25) brings the conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter that appeared for the first time on Olhar Digital.

Source: Olhar Digital