Updated: 10:42 AM EST December 17, 2020
COLUMBIA, S.C. The Great Convergence (GC) of Saturn and Jupiter happens only once every 20 years, so naturally it s going to happen at the end of 2020 on the day of the Winter Solstice.
During the GC, the orbits of the Solar System s largest gaseous planets make them appear to converge at the same spot in the sky, even though the planets remain millions of miles apart. At their closest, Jupiter and Saturn, visually, will be only 0.1 degree apart.
Jupiter will be low in the southwest right after dark and will be the brightest object in the night sky, says the team at Melton Memorial Observatory. This conjunction will be fun to observe even without a telescope because Jupiter and Saturn will be so close together they almost appear as one object.