Great Conjunction - Jupiter & Saturn - 2020 DEC 21

[CentaurZ]

On 2020 DEC 21 at 18:21 UT Jupiter and Saturn will appear to have a geocentric angular separation of only 6.1 arcminutes, the narrowest since 1623 and until 2080. However, those separations are not small enough for Jupiter to occult Saturn. The last such occultation occurred in 6857 BC, while the next two will both occur during 7541.

Great conjunctions between Jupiter and Saturn occur about every 20 years. That’s their mutual synodic (lapping) period with a mean value of 19.86 years. Sometimes the conjunctions are triple due to the effect of apparent retrograde motion, but not this time.

Photos and descriptions of the upcoming conjunction would be welcome additions to my similar thread in the Observing-Planetary forum.

 

 

Edited November 17, 2020 by CentaurZ

[maw lod qan]

Thanks for this head up. Just the thought of Jupiter occulting Saturn leaves me imagining one incredible sight!

[Paul M]

They'll be low in the evening twilight but certainly worth a look!

I've got a night shift to work that night so going to be difficult as it's too low to see from home. Not much chance of getting out with a scope.

Anyway, this is what Stellarium makes of it all.

 

[CedricTheBrave]

will be very low may have to find a decent spot on the south downs if the weather is clear

 

[Jm1973]

What sort of FOV would you need to get them both in shot?

[Ouroboros]

They will be about 6 minutes of arc apart when closest. 

[Paul M]

38 minutes ago, Jm1973 said:

What sort of FOV would you need to get them both in shot?

As you can see from the Stellarium screen grab I posted above, Saturn isn't much further away from Jupiter than Callisto. So just about any field of view that fits Jupiter and the Gallilean Moons in will include Saturn too.

That is close!!

The only downside will be sky brighness and atmosphere. By the time the pairing is in a darkish sky they'll be very low in the sky. Definitely more an aesthetic opportunitity than an imaging opportunity.

[Jm1973]

1 hour ago, Paul M said:

As you can see from the Stellarium screen grab I posted above, Saturn isn't much further away from Jupiter than Callisto. So just about any field of view that fits Jupiter and the Gallilean Moons in will include Saturn too.

That is close!!

The only downside will be sky brighness and atmosphere. By the time the pairing is in a darkish sky they'll be very low in the sky. Definitely more an aesthetic opportunitity than an imaging opportunity.

Great. Well my issus will probably prefer something visual anyway.

Thanks for the info!

[maw lod qan]

I've marked my calendar and just hope for good skies. That time of year in Fla is pretty good, but it is falling around the same time as a meteor shower so that will bring on the clouds!😂

[lainev]

As I left an orchestra rehearsal on December 1  (musicians masked and distanced, plexiglass separators) I noticed that Saturn and Jupiter were visible in the Southwestern sky. I had my camera with me so I took some pics. In this image you will see Saturn in the upper left hand corner along with its moon Titan. In the lower right hand corner is Jupiter along with Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. Jupiter and Saturn will be at their closest on December 21. The next time they will be this close is in 2080. Look for the brightest "star" in the Southwester sky after sunset. This is Jupiter. Saturn is a little dimmer and close to Jupiter.

Sony a6400, Sony e 70‑350mm f/4.5‑6.3 g oss lens, ISO400, 1/6 second, f8, 306mm. 35 images processed in Capture 1-20, binned in PIPP, stacked in DeepSkyStacker, processed in StarTools, and finished in Photoshop.

[Tiago Ferreira]

I found this interesting image:

[RT65CB-SWL]

I have got the following day off as I am working early shift that week.

I just got to find a suitable location with a clear SW horizon near me
or near my lady-friend that lives in West London near LHR. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

1 hour ago, astrocanito said:

I found this interesting image:

Saw that too. Posted by none other that Col. Chris Hatfield.

[Tiago Ferreira]

they already appear "dancing" together in longer eyepieces with wide FOV

[bish]

Yet to find my observing spot for this. Don"t really want to set up in the street!

[maw lod qan]

Any idea where this is showing from?

In Fla Saturn is up at an angle to the left.

[GJ Schouten]

Hello all, I just signed up, because I was searching for places to get info on this conjunction and other events. Very much looking forward to it!

Also pretty cool that it coincides with Lukashian new year. I hope it will be visible from my attic and not too low on the horizon. As far as I understand, it will be higher than Neowise if watched from The Netherlands. I could just barely see that one.

[saac]

On 08/12/2020 at 08:59, maw lod qan said:

Any idea where this is showing from?

In Fla Saturn is up at an angle to the left.

The pictures showing the track position is taken for British Isles.  If you have Stellarium you could forward the date to find the positions relative to the Florida sky.  I'll give it a go.  

Jim

 

PS - I think if I have done it right it should look like this at the moment - pretty close to each other already - this was for Bloomingdale Florida .  I don't know if that was of any help !

 

Edited December 10, 2020 by saac

[maw lod qan]

Thanks!

That's more like the a angle I'm seeing. 

Still not together in my 23mm eyepiece with my 8" dob.

I'm watching every evening, worried how they are getting so close to the sky glow of the evening twilight.

[maw lod qan]

This was last night. Caught a jet going close by and a satellite off to the upper left edge.

[chiltonstar]

I had a view for a few secs this evening - handheld. Let's hope for some decent weather on the 21st!

Chris

Edited December 11, 2020 by chiltonstar

[John]

Some scope observing going on at the moment:

 

[bish]

Found an observing spot.  Not private, but not by the side of the road. Will need to keep my kit in the van and go straight from work to just catch them before they sink behind houses. Don"t know why I am worrying about a plan when it will be cloudy!

[Mr Thingy]

Due to be cloudy here in the East tomorrow but the clouds parted this evening and the planets are close enough to share the same frame at 120x magnification.

Here's a crumby picture taken through the eyepiece using my phone.

 

[JOC]

Well this was worth getting the scope out for.  We viewed at around x100 with the Morpheus 12.5mm in the 200P -  beautiful  clear view SW at about 1730.  To the naked eye I could only see one point of light.  Initially I eyeballed the location with my x50 birding bins and that magically provided two points of light one clearly larger than the other.  I checked the encroaching cloud situation and decided to grab out the scope which sits fairly cool in the unheated porch.  And dumped it about 5m from the back door.  Then after remembering how to set it up and some initial fiddling to find them with my 32mm omni plossl and optical finder I heaved them into frame and x100 seemed about spot on.  Very pretty and all the household except my 83 yr old father came out to look.  

NB.  At the time we looked we also had 5 of Jupiter's moons in view all strung out in a straight line, one to one side and 4 to the other.  That somewhat added to the effect 🙂

Edited December 21, 2020 by JOC