Jupiter and Saturn will form a “double planet” for the first time in 800 years

November 26, 2020 Science



[ad_1]

Jupiter and Saturn will be closer in the sky during Christmas than anywhere in the last 800 years Image: skysafariastronomy.com METROGRAB https://skysafariastronomy.com/

Jupiter and Saturn will appear as one in the sky next month (skysafariastronomy.com)

Next month, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer in the night sky than at any other time since the Middle Ages.

The two gas giants will be only 0.06º apart, forming an incredible “double planet” that will give observers the rarest delicacies.

Known as the Great Conjunction, the celestial event will take place on the night of December 21, 2020.

The last time these two planets were so close was in 1623, but no one would have seen it 13º east of the sun. If you are looking for a Great Conjunction that was actually visible, you should go even further back to March 4th 1226.

The show will be visible around the world next month, provided we don’t suffer from the dreaded cloud cover the night it occurs.


The core of the Milky Way in Sagittarius low in the south above the Frenchman River Valley at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. This is from the 76 Ranch Corral site. Grasslands is a dark sky reserve. The shot captures the open star clusters M6 and M7 just above the horizon in Scorpius, up through the Sagittarius Starcloud and the galactic core, then past the red nebulae M8 and M20, the Small Sagittarius Starcloud M24 flanked by the clusters M23 and M25, then the nebulae M17 and M16 above Serpens. The globular cluster M55 is visible on the far left. Jupiter is bright to the right above reddish Antares, Saturn is darker to the left, to the left of the globular cluster M22. I took this 27th Aug 2019. This is a stack of 5 x 3 minute tracked exposures for the sky (to avoid star trails) mixed with a stack of 5x3 minute untracked exposures for the ground, all with Canon 35mm lens at f / 2.8 and Canon 5D MkII modified camera with ISO 1600 filter. The tracker was the Star Adventurer. (Photo by: Alan Dyer / VWPics / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The core of the Milky Way in Sagittarius low in the south above the Frenchman River Valley at Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan. (Photo by: Alan Dyer / VWPics / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Jupiter and Saturn have approached in the night sky since summer and will be separated by less than the diameter of a full moon from December 16 until Christmas Day.

Patrick Hartigan, an astronomer at Rice University, explained: “Alignments between these two planets are quite rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare due to how close the planets will appear to each other. other.

On the evening of the closest approach, December 21, they will look like a double planet, separated only by 1/5 the diameter of the full moon.

“For most telescope viewers, each planet and many of their larger moons will be visible in the same field of view that evening.”

JERSEY CITY, NJ - MARCH 18: Saturn, Jupiter and Mars along with a crescent moon rise in the sky before sunrise over the Lower Manhattan skyline and One World Trade Center on March 18, 2020 as viewed from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn / Getty Images)

Saturn, Jupiter and Mars along with a crescent moon rise in the pre-dawn sky over the Lower Manhattan skyline and One World Trade Center on March 18, 2020 as seen from Jersey City, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn / Getty Images)

To have the best chance of seeing the “double planet”, you will need to look down into the western sky for about an hour after sunset.

‘The further north a spectator is, the less time he or she will have to glimpse the conjunction before the planets sink below the horizon,’ explained Professor Hartigan.

If you miss it, you will have another chance to capture Jupiter and Saturn forming a “double planet” at the end of this century. Set a reminder in your journal for March 15, 2089.

MORE : Astronomers find the “fossil galaxy” hidden within the Milky Way

MORE: Breathtaking video of Earth shot by the astronaut aboard the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule



[ad_2]
Source link

Designed by Tricksfast Solutions
© Copyright 2024, All Rights Reserved