Jupiter and Saturn are “super close” for the first time in 397 years, observable with the naked eye after sunset today –Weather News

Jupiter and Saturn begin to appear in the southwestern sky after sunset and then sink to the western horizon in about two hours. The closest approximation is tomorrow, 22 (Tuesday) around 3:00 am, so in Japan, the possibility of observation is after sunset on 21 (Monday) today.

At the time of closest approach, it is a super-large approach that approaches an angular distance of about 0.1 degrees (6 minutes), which is about one-fifth of the visual diameter of the full moon. Jupiter and Saturn are bright enough to be seen with the naked eye, but they are close enough to be in the same field of view even when viewed with an astronomical telescope.

If you’ve observed Jupiter with an astronomical telescope, you may have seen four Galileo satellites, but you will be able to see Saturn at a similar distance.

Jupiter and Saturn approach each other on a cycle of about 20 years, but it hasn’t been this close since July 17, 1623 (about a month before Tokugawa Iemitsu became the third shogun of the Edo Shogunate in Japan). This is the first time in 397 years. Next time will be 2080, 60 years later, as close as this time.

Although called “approaching”, the two planets are not actually approaching, but the directions when viewed from Earth are the same and appear to be approaching.

This time around, astronomical officials are talking about what the approach looks like with the naked eye.

Jupiter is a glowing planet even in the dark sky, and Saturn is also bright enough to be easily seen with the naked eye. Therefore, when these two planets are close to each other, it is difficult to imagine whether they “look like two” or “look like one” with the naked eye due to the phenomenon that has not happened in hundreds of years.

・ Jupiter is so bright it looks like one
・ Jupiter and Saturn seem to be together
・ Jupiter and Saturn can be seen separately

It depends on the brightness of the sky, so the appearance may differ depending on the time of day and the region. Saturn is hard to see in the dark sky so I wonder what it will look like when it gets dark to a certain extent.

We are planning to run a quiz poll on Weather News to see what it looks like for everyone. Make sure to protect yourself from the cold and take a look.