I saw this announcement recently on the Space.com website – Rare ‘great conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn wows skywatchers around the world: https://www.space.com/rare-great-conjunction-jupiter-saturn-2020-wows-skywatchers. Worth a read if you are into things space-related. There are photos and a video in the link. Much longer article, but here’s some basic information.
By Doris Elin Urrutia 4 days ago
Many people have been eagerly awaiting Monday (Dec. 21) to arrive for several reasons. For one, Monday was the last solstice of 2020. This means people in the Northern Hemisphere experienced the first day of winter, and the summer solstice arrived in the Southern Hemisphere. Second, the two largest planets of the solar system appeared in a rare “great conjunction” that same night, capturing the attention of people across the world.
Saturn and Jupiter are hundreds of millions of miles apart. However on Monday they formed a line through space with Earth, which caused the two gas giants to appear very close to one another in the evening sky shortly after sunset.
Observatories and skywatching enthusiasts across the world have been keenly watching this conjunction because of its rarity. Saturn and Jupiter meet in Earth’s sky about once every 20 years, and some years they appear closer to each other than in other years.
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https://www.space.com/rare-great-conjunction-jupiter-saturn-2020-wows-skywatchers
Previous Space Saturdays: https://upsdownsfamilyhistory.wordpress.com/tag/space-saturdays/
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