Longest night of 2020 today, says met office

KARACHI: The longest night of the year 2020 will be witnessed today, having a duration of more than 13 and a half hours, ARY NEWS reported quoting the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

According to the PMD, the night between December 21 and 22 will be the longest night of the year as the sun would rise the other day at 7:12 am, making it a night spanning over 13 hours and 37 minutes.

The met office further said that the shortest day of the year was also witnessed earlier on December 21 as it spanned over 10 hours and 23 minutes.

Besides this, the two largest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, are coming closest together in the sky tonight after around 800 years, according to astronomers.

According to scientists, Jupiter and Saturn will appear so close together on December 21, 2020 night that it will seem to eyes almost as though they are a single planetary body.

The celestial spectacle said to be a rare treat for astronomy enthusiasts since the Middle Ages after around 800 years.

On December 21, 2020, on the winter solstice, the world will witness planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The double-planet spectacle could be sighted at the southwestern horizon in the sky.

Read More: Here is how you can see the ‘great’ conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

Though conjunction of these two planets happens every twenty years or so, rarely do both of them come quite so close to each other or are so clearly visible in the sky.

In fact, the last time these two planets appeared in such close proximity was on July 16, 1623; and the last time such conjunction occurred at night (when it could actually be observed by the naked eye) was March 4, 1226.

A similar celestial spectacle could be seen in future after 400 years, according to scientists.