The “Great Conjuction” is about to appear

The gas giants Saturn and Jupiter are getting closer and closer.

Well, from our earthly perspective anyway.

The “great conjunction” of these planets in the night sky is upon us. They will be the closest 21st of December appear as a ‘double planetThe celestial event, also known as the ‘Christmas Star’, has almost ceased to occur at night 800 years.

“You can imagine the solar system as a racetrack, with each of the planets like a runner in its own orbit and the Earth toward the center of the stadium,” said Henry Throop, an astronomer at NASA’s Planetary Science Division, in a statement. . . “From our vantage point, we will be able to see … Jupiter on the inner orbit, approaching Saturn for the entire month, and finally overtaking it on December 21.”

In reality, however, the planets will still be hundreds of millions of miles apart. It will be cool. Here’s What You Need to Know:

• How close will the planets appear? “The closest alignment appears to be only one-tenth of a degree apart and takes a few days,” NASA wrote. “On the 21st, they will appear so close that a little finger at arm’s length can easily cover both planets in the sky. The planets will be easily visible to the naked eye by looking southwest just after sunset.”

• One hour after sunset, look southwest in a place (such as a field) where buildings or hills won’t obstruct your view. Avoid bright street lights. Jupiter, which is the third brightest night object in our sky overall (after the moon and Venus), will be its shining self and easily visible – unless it is cloudy! Saturn will be weaker. Until December 21, Saturn will appear on the top left of Jupiter, but on December 21, Jupiter will pass Saturn and reverse their positions.

• Use binoculars! Or a telescope. “The planets can be seen with the naked eye,” NASA wrote, “but if you have binoculars or a small telescope, you might be able to see Jupiter’s four major moons orbiting the giant planet.”

Something to think about as you gaze up at the conjunction: one of those little dots around Jupiter, if you can see them, is the moon Europa. It is an ice-covered moon believed to contain an ocean of water or muddy ice. “Europe’s vast and inscrutably deep ocean is widely regarded as the most promising place to seek life beyond Earth,” NASA writes.

Happy looking at the sky and thinking …

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