Jupiter and Saturn side by side. Last time was 800 years ago.

[Knucklehead]

Jupiter and Saturn will appear together in the night sky. This hasn’t happened since 800 years ago.

Jupiter, Saturn will appear side by side for first time in centuries

Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in the solar system, will appear side by side in the sky Monday night for the first time in almost 800 years. The titanic planets “will appear just…

nypost.com

 

[Knucklehead]

The article is rather confusing concerning the occurrence. First sentence says it hasn’t happened since 800 years ago. The last sentence says it last happened in 1623. Maybe its just my math? Or maybe it happened in the daytime?

 

[ZigZagZeppelin]

1623 to 2020 is 397 yrs....The NY post is claiming 800 yrs, lol. Todays math I guess.

Interesting article, though.

 

[Knucklehead]

More info.

Jupiter and Saturn will form rare "Christmas Star" on winter solstice

On December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer in Earth’s night sky than they have since 1226 A.D. You can watch the event live here, courtesy of Lowell Observatory.

astronomy.com

Jupiter and Saturn Will Form a Rare 'Double Planet' in the Sky Tonight

This incredible spectacle hasn't happened in 800 years. Here's how to see it.

www.popularmechanics.com

The Jupiter And Saturn Great Conjunction Of 2020 - Adler Planetarium

Learn about the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occuring on December 21st, 2020, which is also the winter solstice.

www.adlerplanetarium.org

 

[deluxestogie]

Great Conjunctions



Bob

 

[GreenDragon]

NASA does a much better job explaining this: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/the-great-conjunction-of-jupiter-and-saturn

 

[deluxestogie]

Despite earlier, favorable cloud forecasts, most of the north and northeast is blanketed in cloud right now. So, Texas and Alabama, we're counting on you to tell us what it was like.

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

It’s pretty neat although I can’t see the rings of Saturn through 6x binoculars. I’m going back in a little while with 8x and see if I can prop on something to hold it steadier.

 

[GreenDragon]

It’s pretty neat although I can’t see the rings of Saturn through 6x binoculars. I’m going back in a little while with 8x and see if I can prop on something to hold it steadier.

Many of the stronger binoculars have a connection on the bottom to attach it to a camera tripod. I usually lean against a tree

 

[GreenDragon]

Your KEYE Eyewitness News Team Reporting Live! Bringing you all the news both inane and irritating!

"Our intrepid reporter, Steve, is out on the street for a first hand view - Take it away Steve"

"Yes, thank you Jim, I'm standing on the sidewalk, by myself, alone, looking like a peeping Tom with my binoculars. There were a few tense minutes earlier while a cloud bank slowly drifted across the expected area of the sky, but I can now report we have a clear view of the conjunction! There is a bright point of light, and right next to it,... is a slightly less bright point of light! Truly a great story to tell the grand kids"

All kidding aside, it is a neat and fairly rare astronomical event if you are a star nerd like me. However, we are on the edge of a warm front, and so the Seeing is lousy here - too bad to bother taking out the telescope or trying to catch a photo. One interesting observation however; last night the two formed a straight line running vertically, and tonight they are side by side.

Also, let's not forget that today is the Winter Equinox! Let's all celebrate the longest night / shortest day of the year by running sky-clad through our tobacco plots.

 

[deluxestogie]

It’s pretty neat...

I convinced my son, just south of Birmingham, AL, to drag the family out to a remote spot to view it. Was it neat enough? Truly remarkable? Or will the kids (11 and 13 y/o) spend the rest of their lives saying things like, "Yeah, sure. I'll bet it's as exciting as Pappaw's great conjunction."?

Bob

 

[Knucklehead]

It wasn’t truly remarkable with naked eyes or binoculars. If you are used to seeing Jupiter in the western sky and then notice the conjunction you might do a little bit of a double take and think “ok, that’s different”, but it’s basically two points of light with one of them being quite a bit larger. Pretty much as GreenDragon’s news report stated. I know it was meant to be humorous but it was actually truly accurate. It was worth stepping out of the door to see, but not worth driving some place special.
Pappaw got us out for this? Jeeeeez

 

[deluxestogie]

My son just called. They were just happy to have actually gotten out of the house. Apparently, after looking for 15 minutes, they voted that the two dots were probably what they were supposed to be seeing. Back when that comet was supposed to be visible, they never could see anything. Their last recollection of a memorable astronomical event was driving hundreds of miles to see a solar eclipse in totality.

Bob

 

[Iowalez]

My daughter in southern Iowa took this photo with her phone. I couldn't see it, and don't think it was worth driving out of town in howling cold wind, to see two bright dots.

 

[deluxestogie]

I've attentively watched the stars and the planets since I was 14 years old. So seeing two planets that close together in the sky would have been extraordinary. But I'm old enough to recognize that it's the notion of it, and the rarity of it, rather than the seeing of it, that makes it so.

Bob

 

[TigerTom]

Someone posted this on Twitter, taken via telescope in Melbourne.



Jupiter and its four largest moons "next to" Saturn.

 

[deluxestogie]

My sky is cloudless this evening. About 40 minutes after sunset, I could clearly see bright Jupiter, with much fainter Saturn a smidge above and to the north. A unique sight.

Bob

 

[deluxestogie]

Someone posted this on Twitter, taken via telescope in Melbourne.

If you download and save that image, then enlarge it to about 1000x in PhotoShop, you can clearly see that the Saturn image has been pasted as a rectangle into the image, then blended at the edges.



The pixel resolution is not even the same.

Bob

 

[TigerTom]

If you download and save that image, then enlarge it to about 1000x in PhotoShop, you can clearly see that the Saturn image has been pasted as a rectangle into the image, then blended at the edges.

View attachment 34597

The pixel resolution is not even the same.

Bob

And I have demonstrated my own technical ignorance. I have no working knowledge of photoshop or any other image editing software so I never even considered it could have been a fake. Oh well.

Anyone who liked my post should feel free to unlike it.