Moon Will Be Closest To Earth In 1,337 Years This Weekend But It Will Be Invisible. Here's Why

On Saturday, the new moon will be closest to Earth since the year 992, and just a day later, there will be a conjunction of venus and saturn close to the moon visible to the naked eye. 

New moons happen when the sun and moon share the same celestial longitude, a position also called a conjunction. During the new phase, one can't see the moon from earth because the illuminated side is facing away from our planet. This month's new moon also coincides with a perigee (or supermoon) - in which the full moon appears a bit larger because it's also at the closest point in its orbit. 

However, even though the moon will similarly be at its closest point to our planet this Saturday, the event will overlap with a new moon rather than a full moon. Therefore, our natural satellite in space will be completely invisible to us during the cosmic event, CNET reported. 

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This uniqueness of this weekend's new moon was noticed by Astrophysicist and Science Communicator Graham Jones at Timeanddate.com, as per Forbes. Mr Jones looked into the closest earth-moon distances at new moon over a 2,000 years period. He discovered three new moons where the distance was less than 356,570 km - in 1030, this weekend and in 2368. That makes Saturday's new moon the closest since 1030 and the closest in a period of 1,337 years, according to the outlet. 

What's more, the new moon will also not be this close again for 345 years. Additionally, the day after the new moon, venus and saturn will be in conjunction. In some telescopes and most binoculars, both planets would fit in the same field of view. The pair will also be visible to the naked eye or through pair of binoculars. 

According to In-the-Sky.org, from New Delhi, the pair will become visible around 18:07 (IST), 16 degrees above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. They will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 39 minutes after the Sun at 19:30.