The last time the two giants of the Solar system they were so close in the year 1623. This date is enough to understand how this astronomical event is absolutely not to be missed. It is the Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. The planets are very close, always with stellar measurements of course, in the sky. The climax is on the night of December 21st.
WHERE TO LOOK
Jupiter and Saturn will be clearly visible in the evening, below, towards the South West. Their angular separation will be one tenth of a degree, that is, one fifth of the apparent diameter of the full Moon.
The Virtual Telescope Project will broadcast the images live.
The distances are however enormous. Jupiter and Saturn are aligned with the Earth, but they are 886 million kilometers and 1.619 billion kilometers away from us. They are separated by more than 724 million kilometers, but they might seem almost overlapping when viewed with the naked eye.
TIMES
The National Institute of Astrophysics reports that the conjunction of 21 December will be the closest between the two planets since 1623 and a similar show, albeit not so close, will not be until March 15, 2080.
WHAT IS THE CONJUNCTION
In astronomy, conjunction is the phenomenon whereby celestial bodies align themselves with respect to the observation point from the Earth. The giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, are in the situation of the conjunction, which is defined for them as Big, about every 20 years: the planet with the rings takes 30 Earth years to go around the Sun, Jupiter 12.
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