Well, this is going to be a hot-stuff ending to the year.
Between the pandemic and the failure of the GOP to see what is plainly visible, 2020 has been a year we all wish to forget. Or, maybe reboot. Not that such an event would be possible.
But, we are going to observe an event – a once in a lifetime event- on the winter solstice. Actually, it will peak then- but from the 15th to the 21st of December, Saturn and Jupiter will be mighty close. The separation will drop 0.1 degree each night, dropping down from 0.7 on the 15th.
But, the closeness on the 16th will still be closer than the “Great Conjunction” that occurred on 16 July 1623. That “Christmas Star” event had a greater separation between the planets. Some of our tots may get a chance to see the next Great Conjunction on 15 March 2080- but that will be also be less close than the one we saw last night. And, to almost the same degree tonight.
From 4 March 1226 until 21 December 2020, Saturn and Jupiter haven’t approached each other (to our eyes, folks- they’re still millions of miles apart; Saturn will be 10 au away from us and Jupiter 5 au away) at 0.5 arc distance, a separation of about 0.102 degrees. That’s about 1/5 the diameter of the moon, as we see it.
https://www.nwahomepage.com/weather/weather-blog/weather-blog-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-saturn-on-december-21-2020/
If we want to see it (please don’t make it cloudy!), we should go outside about a half hour after sunset. A telescope would be nice, binoculars would be fine- but our naked eyes should do pretty well. (The telescope will also let us see the rings of Saturn and the cloud bands about Jupiter!) That will give us 15 minutes to locate the two planets- as long as we watch the southwest sky. And, the two planets should provide us the Christmas Star effect for an additional 15 minutes anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. The good thing is that 21 December provides us the longest night of the year.
Now, let’s get a little more specific. The Christmas Star – if it existed at all- involved the conjunction of Venus and Jupiter. It was 6 BCE when Saturn and Jupiter had their great conjunction.
We had clear skies and was able to get some fairly good pictures from my Google Pixel 3 XL. Lia enjoyed looking at it also, she loves anythig tondo with astronomy. She’ll be in her early 60’s so maybe she can see it again!
Glad you and Lia got the great experience, Martha!
What an awesome once in a lifetime event! I’m sorry l missed it, but a friend captured awesome images. Now l just have to live long enough to see the next one in 2080 :-).
We had a bunch of clouds impeding our view. At least you had a friend to share some pictures with you. Good luck on the next 60 years, Kemkem!
I just had a thought Roy, I’m making a memory box for Lia and I’ll have to add a few pictures that we took and some of her taking pictures of the planets. I will date them so in 2080 she can relive the memory from 2020!
That is simply a fantastic idea, Martha. Make sure you pack them well, so they can be viewed in 60 years!