Bay Area stargazers point telescopes toward once-in-a-lifetime Jupiter, Saturn conjunction
Catherine Hawley reports
TAMPA, Fla. - Skywatchers had a once-in-a-lifetime view Monday night at planets Jupiter and Saturn came closer to one another than they have in the last 400 years and another 400 to come, according to NASA.
Astronomers call this a great conjunction.
From our vantage point, the two gas giants appeared almost touching, despite being hundreds of millions of miles apart.
Courtesy Juan Gaviria Tonight is the peak of the conjunction; this is as close as the two planets are going to be for the next 50 years or so, they’re about 1/10th of a degree apart, Sabin said.
Richard Schoepfer’s love of outer space began during his childhood growing up in New York.
“When I was a little kid you just see these pictures, and you’re just like, floored,” the Longboat Key Police sergeant said.
Sgt. Richard Schoepfer
Schoepfer said he got his first telescope at the age of 25 before getting into astrophotography about four years ago.
“It’s a process and it’s expensive,” Schoepfer said. “I think my wife would like me to have a cheaper hobby, but it is what it is.”
Schoepfer said he has two Celestron telescopes: a 9.25-inch and another with an 80-millimeter refractor. He said his larger mount weighs about 75 pounds with all his equipment on it.