Jupiter and Saturn in Conjunction Tonight

astrotoy

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May 24, 2010
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A special treat in the sky tonight (Monday night December 21). Jupiter and Saturn will be in conjunction (something that happens every 20 years) but this one is super special. Jupiter and Saturn will be within 1/10th of a degree from each other (1/5th the diameter of the moon). This hasn't been observed since 1226 AD (or CE). With a small telescope you will be able to see both planets in the same field of view, with several of their moons also visible. A decent set of binoculars will also give a nice view. With the naked eye, they will be so close together that they come close to merging. Look low in the southwest sky, about 1/2 hour to 40 minutes after sunset. The moon will be above and to the east of the two planets. Jupiter is much brighter than Saturn and will be slight below Saturn. Saturn will look like a bright yellow star. Neither of them will twinkle unless you have a very turbulent atmosphere. (It isn't "twinkle, twinkle little planet). They are not colliding, Saturn is about twice as far away as Jupiter. Don't wait too long. The planets will be setting fairly soon after that time (around 40 degrees north latitude look out starting around 5:20-5:40PM - twilight will be fading and Jupiter will be the first object you will see other than the moon).

If it is cloudy, the event will be somewhere on the internet. If you miss it, the next several days, Jupiter and Saturn will be moving away from each other, but pretty slowly, so it will be still pretty spectacular.

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essen...on-dec-21-2020

From Rome, the European Virtual Telescope Project will begin streaming images of the conjunction starting about 7:30AM Pacific Time, 10:30AM Eastern Time. That is the same as 4:30PM Central European Time, shortly after the sun sets.

https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/webtv/


Larry (your astronomer friend)
 

the sound of Tao

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Jul 18, 2014
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The great conjunction @ 0 degrees Aquarius.

Thanks for the viewing links Larry, we’ll be clouded out down south. Great to be able to see it still.
 
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defride

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Mar 28, 2013
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Pretty close last night, Saturn directly above Jupiter in the twilight just west of London UK.
Looks like cloud tonight :(
 

Tim Link

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Feb 12, 2019
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Conjunction junction, what's your function? I hope I can see it this evening!
 

cjfrbw

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Apr 20, 2010
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Saw it with naked eyeballs here tonite, though my area is not ideal due to trees and lights. A decent set of binoculars should do the trick.
 
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