Pairing of Saturn-Mars enthrals sky gazers

A double celestial treat greeted astro-enthusiasts on the Independence Day today with two planets Saturn and Mars putting up a show in the night sky.

“The ring-planet Saturn and Mars were seen paired in western skies after sunset,” Planetary Society of India Secretary N Sri Raghunandan Kumar said.

The phenomenon is called Conjunction, a term used in positional astronomy which means that as seen from some place (usually the Earth) two celestial bodies appear near one another in the sky.

The two bright non-twinkling objects were seen in the west direction by naked eyes, Kumar said.