SINGAPORE: Astronomy fans in Singapore are in for a treat as the moon and Saturn are set to move closer and appear to “touch” each other from late on Jul 24 into the early hours of the next day.
The phenomenon is known as a conjunction and occurs when the moon, a planet or a star appear close together in the earth’s night sky, according to NASA.
In this case, Saturn and the moon will appear to be close to one another.
“This happens because of Saturn’s and the moon’s position in their respective orbits around Earth and the sun,” said the Science Centre Observatory (SCOB) on Thursday (Jul 11) in response to queries from CNA.
This conjunction can be observed from 11.30pm on Jul 24.
The moon and Saturn will then be at their closest at 4.31am on Jul 25, noted SCOB.
“The moon and Saturn will rise late at night in the eastern sky, very close to one another.
“As the night progresses, they will move closer and appear to ‘touch’ and are nearly inseparable to the naked eye,” added the observatory.
A similar conjunction also took place last year, but between the moon and Venus instead.
During such conjunctions, these objects in the sky may appear to be close to one another from an observer’s perspective, however, “they are not necessarily physically close to each other”, said SCOB.