Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction Viewing

Hosted by Jim Nash

From Jim:

Early evening this coming Wednesday, December 23, there will be an opportunity to witness a sky event that has not been equaled for nearly four hundred years and will not reoccur for another sixty.

Best viewed by good binoculars, or better-yet a telescope, and with hopes for a clear, lower western sky, I’d like to offer PHYC members an opportunity to view the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction event from the Clubhouse deck.  I plan to set up two small-power telescopes that will bring the event closer to observers, including views of Jupiter’s moons and Saturn’s rings. 

Given the low-horizon proximity of the event, it will be best viewed just after dark and for a relatively short period of time.  If you would like to stop by plan to arrive around 5 p.m (or a few minutes earlier).  Hopefully the clouds, cold and wind will be cooperative, so dress appropriately, including a mask, of course! Please remember to mintain at least six feet between you and others not in your household. 

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, Jupiter and Saturn. The December 21, 2020, great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is already underway and highly conspicuous in the west after sunset each evening. On December 21, the pair 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?

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! 2020’s extra-close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080.

Fingers crossed for a clear night,

Jim Nash