Throughout most of this month of December, you’ll be able to witness the planets Saturn and Jupiter inching ever-closer to one another in the night sky. By December 21st, 2020, they will be a within a staggering 0.1 degrees of one another (as seen from the naked eye), a proximity which hasn’t been observed since 1226, almost 800 years ago (they also came slightly closer together around 1623, but they were so near to the sun at sunset that it is unlikely they were observed). This month, these two planets may even appear to form a “double planet,” where they overlap one another from our view on Earth.
The event we are about to witness is called a “great conjunction.” “Conjunction,” because they are celestial objects meeting in the night sky, and “great,” because they are Saturn and Jupiter, the two largest planets in the Solar System which meet quite rarely, only every 20 years (but not often at this level of proximity). This month will be a very great conjunction, the likes of which we won’t see for another 60 years, and after that, several hundred years.
You don’t have to wait until December 21st to witness this event. It’s slowly starting right now, before our very eyes; Saturn and Jupiter are currently separated by around 2 degrees, and the margin is shrinking day by day.
You can learn more about the great conjunction and how to spot it in the following articles; have fun stargazing!
Get ready for the ‘Great Conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn | Space
How to See the Great Conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn ⋆ Space Tourism Guide
By: Amélie Sharples