NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) – Watch the air this week. We’ll be in for a treat, as Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest to the sky in four centuries.
Appearing as a “poinsettia”, the “great conjunction” takes place next Monday, December 21, which also happens to be the winter solstice and marks the beginning of the winter season.
A conjunction occurs when planets appear close in the night sky and are aligned with the orbits of the Earth. The last time Jupiter and Saturn were this close was 1623, about 14 years after Galileo invented the telescope. But that year the conjunction was too close to the sun to see it.
The last time Jupiter and Saturn were so close and visible to Earth was during the Middle Ages in 1226.
To see the conjunction, you want to look southwest just above the horizon. If you want to do a fun activity with your kids, grab a dime and hold it between your fingers at arms length towards the sky. The angular distance of Jupiter and Saturn is almost equal to the thickness of a dime.
Here’s a good way to remember how far above the horizon to look up: the conjunction will be about 15 degrees above the horizon, about the length of an inch up.
Check out the full explanation in the video above.