CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) – Jupiter and Saturn will merge into the night sky on Monday, appearing closer together from the time of Galileo in the 17th century.
Astronomers say so-called conjunctions between the two largest planets in our solar system are not particularly rare. Jupiter passes to its neighbor Saturn in its respective revolutions around the sun every 20 years.
But what comes next is especially close: Jupiter and Saturn will be only a tenth of our perspective or about a fifth of the width of a full moon. They should be easily visible to everyone shortly after sunset, weather permitting.
Throwing it at the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, the longest night of the year and the summer solstice in the southern hemisphere, and this show just in time for Christmas promises to be one of the big sets.
“The rarest is a close conjunction that occurs in our night sky,” said David Weintraub, a professor of astronomy at Vanderbilt University. “I think it’s fair to say that an event like this can happen only once in anyone’s life and I think‘ once in a lifetime ’is pretty good proof of whether something deserves to be labeled as weird or special “.
It will be the closest mating between Jupiter and Saturn since July 1623, when the two planets appeared a little closer. This conjunction was almost impossible to see, however, because of its proximity to the sun.
The conjunction of the two planets in March 1226 was considerably closer and in sight, when Genghis Khan was conquering Asia. Monday’s conjunction will be the closest pairing that can be seen since then.
Saturn and Jupiter have been approaching the south-southwest sky for weeks. Jupiter, larger and closer to Earth, is much brighter.
“I love watching them get closer and closer to each other and being able to see it with my own eyes from the back porch!” Virginia Tech astronomer Nahum Arav said in an email.
To see it, get ready shortly after sunset on Monday, looking southwest pretty low on the horizon. Saturn will be the smallest and weakest blob in the upper right of Jupiter. Binoculars will be needed to separate the two planets.
Despite appearances, Jupiter and Saturn will be more than 730 million miles away. Meanwhile, the Earth will be 890 million kilometers from Jupiter.
A telescope will not only capture Jupiter and Saturn in the same field of view, but even some of their brightest moons.
His next super-close pairing: March 15, 2080.
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