Over the last few weeks you may have noticed two bright lights just above the horizon in the early evening sky when looking in a south-westerly direction.
These are not stars but planets – Jupiter and Saturn. There is nothing new about the presence of these two planets, however what is exciting is that they are moving closer and closer together until they will ‘meet’ in what is known as a Great Conjunction on December 21st, the summer solstice (for the southern hemisphere).
Jupiter and Saturn conjunctions occur every 20 years due to the difference in how long it takes each planet to orbit the sun. Jupiter takes nearly 12 years to orbit the sun whereas Saturn takes nearly 30 years. This means that for every year that these planets orbit, Jupiter catches up to Saturn bit by bit until the giant ball of gas overtakes the ringed gem. The result? An elongated double star, presumably extremely bright.
A digitalised view of what the sky will look like on the night of 21 December 2020 when Saturn and Jupiter are within 0,1 degree of one another.
You may be thinking, “Well this happens every 20 years so it’s not that special.”
Well, a conjunction does happen every 20 years, however the timing is not always so perfect. For example the last conjunction took place near the sun making the phenomena difficult to view. In fact this year’s Great Conjunction will be the closest observable one since 1226 and it will not be matched until 2080!
A lot of the time these astronomical spectacles are hyped up only to reveal something a bit disappointing unless you’re sitting behind Hubble’s space telescopes. But even if the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is not as visually mesmerising as we imagine it to be, there is something quite profound and alluring about watching the two biggest planets in our solar system dancing toward one another and embracing on the shortest night (southern hemisphere) or longest night (northern hemisphere) in the calendar year. So do yourself a favour, whip out your binoculars on the 21st and watch the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.
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It is so exciting to be around for these great celestial events. And on the same day as the summer solstice.
Where is Saturn on the digitized view?
Josh, I loved all the stars🤗
And may our World also align in conjunction with these two planets!!
Couldn’t agree more 🙏💕
Some great previews already this week!
Main event night was fantastic–perfectly clear SW Florida sky!
That will be a special sight – if only it weren’t so cloudy!!! For all of us in the Northern Hemisphere….every day gets a little longer Starting tomorrow!! Yay!
This really is exciting as the last such spectacle happened nearly 800 years ago. Thanks for your explanations.
ah the Winter Solstice – a time for Druids to frolic at Stonehenge , sadly instead of clear frosty night and a sharp dawn , it was soggy rain.
Much rather be at Londolozi where the sky is clear, the weather warm and you can enjoy this rare event under African Sky
Thanks Josh! We will check it out tonight!
We are looking forward to see it tonight as our balcony faces south west!! Very excited to see this phenomenon !! As always thank you all for the wonderful pictures and interesting info! Hou have certainly brightened our days as we slowly get closer to the Presidential Inauguration ! Take safe and hopefully the new virus strain is not near Londolozi. Merry Christmas ! Victoria
We have a beautiful clear sky here, visiting our sons in Palma de Mallorca so am hoping we too will enjoy this special night 🙏💕
We saw it! So amazing! Thanks for the ‘heads up’!
Although we had Tule Fog this morning and evening, I barely managed to see the planets tonight, just to the right and down from the moon – not totally clear but there nevertheless! Happy viewing to you!!
👌 My favorite ! Listen to nature , and just looking at the stars , while the smell of a hardekool fire fills the air !!
hauntingly beautiful. Thanks for sharing
we were able to see this from our balcony which faces south west!! it was incredible!! Victoria
It was incredible to view here in the northern hemisphere!! Thanks for posting your view of it!
My favorite picture 👌 You are very fortunate to LIVE in nature 😉