Saturn will come Closest to Earth on August 2

• Image Credit: Internet

• Aug 2, 2021 | moderator

New Delhi: Saturn and Earth will come close to each other on August 2; people across the world that will be witnessing the nighttime will be able to see the ringed planet, the American space agency said.

Deputy Director of Pathani Samanta Planetarium, Dr Subhendu Pattnaik, said to ANI, “On August 2, Saturn and Earth will be closest to each other at 11.30 am Indian Standard Time. So in India, it will be daytime, but it will be witnessed by the people wherever there is nighttime, people will see a bright Saturn.”

As per Dr Pattnaik, the ringed planet will appear bright even with the naked eye and will be visible throughout the night in August; moreover, Pattnaik added a few satellites of Saturn would be witnesses by the people through a small telescope.

“Earth takes about 365 days to orbit the sun while Saturn takes around 29.5 years for completing one full revolution of our star. Previously, Saturn and Earth came close was on July 20. 2020, and again on August 14, it will do the same.” said Dr Pattnaik.

Further, Dr Pattnaik said, “when both the planets are very close to each other, the average distance will be around 120 crores kilometres, which is 50 crore kilometres less in comparison to the maximum distance between them, which happens after six months when Saturn will be across the other side of the Earth.”