The Great Conjunction 2020: This Australia-based Indian Photographer’s Image Has Goed Viral! details

The big connection: After a whopping 400 years, Jupiter and Saturn came closest from Earth’s point of view at an event called the Great Conjunction, or Christmas Star. Several people witnessed the event and took breathtaking images of the two planets coming together. A picture captured by an Indian photographer in Melbourne, Australia, caused a sensation on social media, according to a report in IE. The image was clicked on by Sajal Chakraborty and it not only captured the two planets, but also captured Jupiter’s four largest moons.

Also read | Great conjunction 2020: Jupiter and Saturn will meet until Christmas; Everything you need to know about this spectacle

According to the report, the image was clicked on using a telephoto lens and DSLR camera. After a Twitter user from Sydney, Australia shared the picture on the microblogging website two days ago, the picture was liked 1.3 million times and retweeted over 2.4 lakh times.

Chakraborty had to stack 25 images together to achieve the clarity visible in the final image he shared, he was quoted in the report as saying. He said he used an interval meter for the shutter and then stacked multiple exposures to capture the details of the astronomical event.

On December 21, when the Great Conjunction took place, Melbourne experienced a rainy day, which meant that Chakraborty’s achievement was all the harder to achieve. He said he had a small window of time to capture the two planets when they were closest.

After creating his masterpiece, he shared it with some photography groups and the viral image was not his intent, the report says.

He added that he wanted to get the best possible image with his equipment – a Canon 60D that is a decade old, a tripod stand, and a Canon 75-300mm lens that is also 10 years old.

With limited resources, Sajal has truly captured a stunning picture of the heavenly event.