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An artist’s illustration of the sun-like star Kepler 51 and two of its three giant super-smoky planets that NASA’s Kepler space telescope discovered in 2012.
NASA, ESA and L. Hustak, J. Olmsted, D. Player an
Get ready to witness a heavenly event that has been dubbed the “star of Bethlehem” in our night skies in the coming weeks.
Dr. Daniel Cunnama, a committed scientific astronomer at the South African Astronomical Observatory, confirmed that a spectacular conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December 21 will be visible in South Africa.
“You can look west just after sunset and you will see them for the next two weeks.”
Download a graphic showing how this happens here
According to the BBC Night sky magazine, the closest giant planetary “kiss” since 1623 will see gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn only 0.06 ° apart.
“The two gas giant planets in our Solar System have come closer together in recent months, and on Monday, December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will be less than a degree apart in the night sky,” the magazine says.
The spectacular sight will be visible in clear skies around the world.
Night sky He said that Jupiter and Saturn won’t really be close to each other.
“In fact, on that date, which is also the date of the December solstice, Saturn will be approximately twice as far from Earth as Jupiter.
“However, our line of sight from Earth will suggest otherwise, as we can all witness (clear skies allow) the closest planetary conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn that most of us will see.
“Saturn and Jupiter seem to pass close to each other, as seen from Earth, every 20 years, and when they do we call it a ‘grand conjunction.’
If you see it, consider yourself lucky.
The last time Jupiter and Saturn were this close was on July 16, 1623, although that happened only 13 ° east of the Sun, so almost certainly no one saw it, he wrote Night sky.
The last time a “grand conjunction” occurred that was as easy to see as this year was on March 4, 1226.
The magazine writes that where and when you observe it will be critical.
They advise being in a place with a good view to the west without trees or buildings blocking the horizon.
“Through binoculars, the observer will easily see Jupiter and Saturn separately in the same field of view.
“The same goes for a small telescope, which will only need a low-power eyepiece (around 50x) to separate the two planets in the same field of view.”
They write that it should also be possible to see the rings of Saturn, its giant moon Titan, and the Galilean moons of Jupiter, Ganymede, Io, Callisto, and Europa, all in the same field of view.
A 200mm lens will be required to capture a photograph of the planets and possibly Jupiter’s moons in the coming darkness, they warn.
The next great conjunction will occur on March 15, 2080.
