On Dec 21, the night of the winter solstice, the two largest planets in the solar system will appear to merge in the night sky. It will be the closest visible conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 800 years. For the past few months, the two gas giants have been "wooing" each other, inching closer and closer in the western part of the night sky.
Currently, the ringed planet is located above and slightly to the right of Jupiter, about 1 degree away. On a clear night, the planets are seen as white dots in the sky, with Jupiter being closer to Earth and therefore appearing brighter. As both planets continue tracing their orbits over the next week, they will align closer to each other.
Jupiter has been inching towards Saturn while Saturn has been moving eastwards with respect to background stars. Next Monday, the giants will be locked in an embrace and create a "double planet" effect, appearing as a brilliant white orb in the sky. Astronomers have dubbed this romantic spectacle "The Great Conjunction".
'Great conjunction' of Jupiter and Saturn will form a 'Christmas Star' on the winter solstice
On Dec. 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will appear just one-tenth of a degree apart, or about the thickness of a dime held at arm's length, according to NASA. (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech)
Jupiter and Saturn will have their closest encounter in almost 400 years on the solstice (Dec. 21). On the last solstice of 2020 (Dec. 21), Jupiter and Saturn will appear the closest together in the night sky in 4 centuries.
Some parts of Earth's Northern Hemisphere have been feeling chilly weather for weeks now, but the official beginning of winter occurs on the solstice. This is the point when the daytime is at its shortest in one hemisphere and when daytime is the longest in the other hemisphere. Dec. 21 is the summer solstice for the southern half of planet Earth.
This year, the solstice happens to converge with a "great conjunction" that some have christened as an early "Christmas star" because of its occurrence hear the holiday.
What's Up: Skywatching Tips from NASA
What's Up for December? A meteor shower, an extraordinary close meetup between Jupiter and Saturn, and the winter solstice
December brings one of the most reliable annual meteor showers – and one of the best in 2020: the Geminids. This shower is active from December 4th through the 17th, as Earth plows through the trail of dusty debris left behind in the orbit of asteroid 3200 Phaethon – which might actually be a burnt-out comet.
The Geminids produce a good number of meteors most years, but they're made even better this year as the shower's peak coincides with a nearly new moon. (Thus making for darker skies, with no moonlight to interfere with the fainter meteors.) The Geminids peak overnight on December 13th into the morning of the 14th, with some meteor activity visible in the days before and after. Viewing is good all night for the Northern Hemisphere, with activity peaking around 2 a.m. local time, and after midnight for viewers in the Southern Hemisphere.
For the best viewing, find a safe location away from bright city lights, lie flat on the ground with your feet pointing south and look up. Meteors can appear in any part of the sky, though they'll appear to radiate from near the constellation Gemini. So here's wishing you clear skies to catch some shooting stars.
Jupiter and Saturn Will Form a Rare 'Double Planet' in the Sky Before Christmas
For the first time since the middle ages, Jupiter and Saturn will become so close to each other in the night sky that they'll appear as a brilliantly bright "double planet." On the winter solstice, December 21, the solar system’s two largest planets will be visibly on top of each other in the western sky.
If you live in the northern hemisphere, you can observe this planetary conjunction setting in the southwestern sky, shortly after sunset. If you’ve been waiting to take out your telescope, this may be the perfect opportunity. Even if you have an amateur telescope with the right eyepiece, you may be able to see the Galilean moons, the bands of Jupiter, and Saturn’s rings, all in one spectacular view. But don’t wait too long, because the planets will dip below the horizon only a couple hours after the sun sets. You won’t see a similar conjunction this close again until March 15, 2080.
In what astronomers are calling a great conjunction, or the meeting of the two biggest worlds in our solar system, the planets will appear perfectly aligned from Earth’s perspective and only be 0.1 degrees apart (that’s only one-fifth the diameter of the moon). The last time Jupiter and Saturn appeared this close was in 1623, just 14 years after Galileo made his first telescope and discovered the moons of Jupiter.
If you haven’t seen Jupiter and Saturn, you’re missing something!
Jupiter and Saturn are closing in on their great conjunction on the day of the solstice, December 21, 2020. At their closest, they’ll be only 0.1 degrees apart. They’re already amazing! Info, charts, photos here.
Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe meetings of planets and other objects on our sky’s dome. They use the term great conjunction to describe meetings of the two biggest worlds in our solar system, mighty Jupiter and glorious ringed Saturn. The coming great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be on the day of the solstice: December 21, 2020. Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions happen every 20 years; the last one was in the year 2000. But these conjunctions aren’t all created equal. The 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest since 1623 and the closest observable since 1226! On December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will be only 0.1 degree apart. Some say the pair will look like an “elongated star” on that date. Will they? Or will they look like a double planet? To know for sure, we’ll have to look and see. They’ll surely be an appealing and mind-expanding sight.
2002’s extra-close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080. At the 2000 great conjunction, 20 years ago, Jupiter and Saturn were near the sun in our sky and difficult to observe. We’re due for a more observable great conjunction. Jupiter and Saturn are up every evening now – not far from the sunset glare – easily visible and exceedingly noticeable as two bright objects near each other. Plus, in the days prior to the conjunction, the young moon will return to the evening sky, to point the way to the planets.
A Spectacularly Rare ‘Christmas Star’ Is Coming In December As Two Worlds Align After Sunset
If you managed to see the crescent Moon pass Jupiter and Saturn this week, you’ll have noticed something else about the Solar System’s two largest planets. They’re now really, really close to each other, and on December 21, 2020—the date of the December solstice—they’re going to almost appear to collide to become one super-bright point of light.
Jupiter and Saturn will look like a “double planet” for first time since Middle Ages. In reality, of course, they won’t be close at all. Think about the distance from the Earth to the Sun. That’s what astronomers call an astronomical unit (au), and it’s how they measure distances in the vastness of the Solar System. Jupiter is 5 au from us. Saturn is 10 au. These two planets aligned in the Solar System a few weeks ago, but on December 21 they’ll appear aligned to us on Earth. Our line of sight is different because we’re orbiting quickly around the Sun.
“Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to be to one another,” said Patrick Hartigan, astronomer at Rice University. “You’d have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.”
Great conjunction
A great conjunction is a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, when the two planets appear closest together in the sky.
These conjunctions occur every 19.859 years, on average, when Jupiter 'overtakes' Saturn in the sky due to the combined effect of Jupiter's approximately 11.9-year orbital period and Saturn's 29.5-year orbital period.
The interval can be several months longer or shorter – the last great conjunction occurred in May, 2000, and the next will occur on 21 December 2020, when the two planets will be separated by 6 arcminutes in the sky.
Jupiter & Saturn To ‘Merge’ On 21 Dec 2020
The next time the conjunction will be this visible is in 2080
The Great Conjunction Between Jupiter & Saturn Will Be Visible On 21 Dec Evening
While Singapore might not experience the cold, snowy winters like other countries, this year, we will get to see one thing — the Winter Solstice.
On 21 Dec, the night of the Winter Solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will align and merge in our night skies. This is the closest the 2 planets will appear in the last 4 centuries. According to The Straits Times (ST), Jupiter and Saturn will appear to merge in our skies. on the night of 21 Dec.
In the last few months, the 2 planets have been courting one another, inching closer together in our skies. Saturn is now slightly above and to the right of Jupiter, just 1 degree away. On clear nights, the planets can be seen as white dots in the sky. Jupiter, which is nearer to earth will appear bigger and brighter. As the 2 planets ‘meet’ on 21 Dec, they will form a brilliantly bright ‘double planet’ effect in the sky, reported Yahoo.
