Great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn captured in stunning photos from around the world By Sophie Lewis 2 planets to meet in rare great conjunction
Jupiter and Saturn, our solar system s two largest planets, were visibly closer together on Monday night than they have been in 800 years marking an extremely rare celestial event known as the great conjunction.
The conjunction occurs when the orbits of the two planets align every 20 years, but the event is not always visible, and the planets do not typically come as close together as they did on December 21.
This time around, Jupiter and Saturn were just 0.1 degrees apart less than the diameter of a full moon.