Moon And Jupiter To Meet In Sky On Friday

The moon will be in conjunction with the Jupiter on Friday, November 4. The 10-day-old moon will appear just two degrees to the south of the solar system's largest planet. According to a report in space.com, the gas giant and Earth's satellite will also make an appulse - the least apparent distance between two celestial objects. The occurrence comes days before a total lunar eclipse on November 8, when the Sun, Earth and Moon will be in a straight line, causing Earth's shadow to cover the Moon.

The conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter will begin at 16:23 EDT (1:53am IST).

During the conjunction, the moon will have a magnitude of minus 12.5, and Jupiter will have a magnitude of minus 2.8, according to space.com. The outlet said that the minus prefix has been added to indicate bright objects in the sky over Earth.

Though they will appear close in the sky, the Moon and the Jupiter will actually be far away.

Jupiter will again be in news on December 7, when it will be opposite the Sun, an arrangement called the opposition, space.com said.

Fifth in line from the Sun, Jupiter is, by far, the largest planet in the solar system. According to American space agency NASA, it is more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined.

The stripes and swirls that are seen in the many photographs of Jupiter, are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium, NASA further said. Jupiter's iconic Great Red Spot is a giant storm bigger than Earth that has raged for hundreds of years.