It’s coming in December and it’s literally a once-in-a-lifetime scenario.
AS NASA, ESA, a. Simon (Goddard Space Flight Center), MH Wong (University of California, Berkeley) and …
Photos of Jupiter, left, and Saturn taken by the Hubble Telescope in 2019.
Only after sunset on December 21 will Jupiter and Saturn look like double planets, as the two planets will be together, also known as the “Great Connection,” said Amy Oliver, a spokeswoman for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center. Astrophysics.
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“Most adults have never seen a combination like this and will never get a chance to see it again,” Oliver said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Although this connection occurs once every 20 years, this one is even more rare: the two planets will be on top of each other because it will be .1 degree – about one-fifth the diameter of the moon – away from each other, Oliver said.
The last time the two planets appeared near this was in 1623, or 14 years after Galileo built his first telescope, Liver said. However, at that time people could not see it because it was close to the sun, blocking the view.
“Only astronomers would know, but they don’t have social media to tell people,‘ Hey! Look at this! ” He said.
The last time people would have considered this connection would have been during this near Middle Ages, about 800 years ago, in 1226.
It’s also happening on the December solstice, adding even more to its rarity, she said.
Li Lever said, the two planets have been approaching each other in the Earth’s sky for a while. For more than a week they will be separated by less than the diameter of the full moon, approaching December 21st.
If you look now, you can see it in action.
It’s like a teenager in a high school dance: they’re getting closer and closer to each other, “Liver said. “It’s been a year of watching this, it’s getting closer to that, and now they’re going to dance fairly slowly.”
Dec Lever said Jupiter and Saturn will be in their nearest configuration east on December 21 at 1:20 p.m., and “a really good pair of binoculars or really backyard telescopes” will appear in the sky that day, Oliver said.
For Boston viewers when it starts to get dark or immediately after sunset, the two planets will still be close in sight together, Plane Lever said, Oliver said.
Jupiter and Saturn will have a chance to be seen together in the near future, but the sky will be higher, March 15, 2080, Oliver said.
In other words, don’t miss out.
20 Lever said, “2020 has been an excellent year for astronomy and a lot of wonderful things have happened in the night – and day – sky.” “As part, we’re so focused on everything that hasn’t become so great about 2020 that we forget to take these moments that are so much bigger than what we attribute to them.”
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