"The Great Conjunction" – Way Cool, I Saw It!

[sundialsvc4]

It’s been all over the astro-geek news today that, tonight, right now in fact, Jupiter and Saturn are as close together in the night sky as they will be in – well – “forever.” (“Just 0.1 degrees apart.”)

Fortunately, tonight, the weather-gods blessed me with an absolutely cloudless night sky.

Look up in the southwestern sky, near the horizon, and you will see (along the ecliptic, of course) a bright “star” with a dimmer, reddish “star” almost beside it.

Astro-sages tell us that the last time this could have been observed to have happened is in the year 1226, so get your render-job started, run outside right now, and look up at the sky – very close to the southwestern horizon. If you miss this one, you’ll have 60 years to wait for your next chance, and nearly 300 years to wait for the one after that.

[TheUnrealShowcaser]

I’m from the North West and there’s houses and trees around me, however I think the sky looks a bit weird maybe?

[pxlpaul (Paul)]

Was cloudy as heck in most of Ontario Canada so were out of luck. But did watch a live stream on YouTube which was cool. Close second. Bonus was they have a better telescope than I do.

Cheers and stay safe!

[Akikun]

I didn’t have the chance to see it on the 21st because of clouds and rain, but the sky was very clear the day before. Here’s what I got with an entry level telescope, it would have been better if the planets weren’t so bright.

I originally planned to go see it at a location with better sky quality, but not possible with travel restrictions. I’m in the process of recreating that location (for the most part) in Blender, I’ll post it here if there’s anyone interested.

@sundialsvc4
This kind of event happens every 20 years, so no need to wait forever to see the next one. However the next one with the same configuration will be in 2080. If you’re 30 years old or less you might still be alive at that time.

[sundialsvc4]

Well, according to the star-sites, for several more days you will still be able to see this extremely-close conjunction. (The planets are in conjunction on a regular basis, but usually not this close.)

About an hour after sunset, look in the southwestern sky along the path of the ecliptic. There are many sites which will tell you the setting-time for each planet from your GPS coordinates or US Zip Code: at my latitude, they set about 7:20 PM. Look for a bright “star” with a dimmer, redder “star” right beside it.

[Ace_Dragon]

I didn’t miss it, unlike the comet that passed by earlier this year, this was way brighter and easier to find.

The downer, the two bodies didn’t actually (appear to) touch each other, so a little bit of luminosity was left on the table for another century. Some people speculated this was the “Christmas star” of 2000 years ago, but I think the conjunction event back then was of a rarer and brighter form.

[Akikun]

By “this kind of event” I meant the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, I should have explained myself better.

[amon_paike (noki runner)]

in Italy, it seems ironic to me that the “Christmas star” is there, but “Herod” has decided to put Christmas in lockdown …
will be the sign of the times