Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Skywatchers are in for an end-of-year treat over the next few days â and you will not need a telescope to see it.
Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in the solar system, will appear together in what is known as a “Great Conjunction” on Monday night.
Astronomy educator Gary Boyle, known as “
The Backyard Astronomer,” says the two planets align every 20 years or so.
“But it’s the separation of the two that makes this very, very rare,” Boyle said in a phone interview Monday.
In fact, it has been nearly 400 years since Jupiter and Saturn passed this close to one another.
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Jupiter and Saturn draw together for this afternoon s Great Conjunction istock.com/buradaki
It may sound like something out of a fantasy realm, but people in Niagara may be able to catch a glimpse of a Great Conjunction this afternoon.
Astronomy educator Gary Boyle, also known as The Backyard Astronomer, explains you may spot two gas giants in the sky just after sunset. Jupiter and Saturn do this every 20 years because Jupiter orbits the sun in about 13 years, Saturn in about 30 years. So every now and then they come together in the same area of sky, but it s every 397 years that they come very close together.
Tonight (Monday), you can see the closest cosmic entanglement in centuries.
The Backyard Astronomer Gary Boyle walks us through the great conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn.
Boyle says tonight the two planets will appear to almost touch.
The planets will then begin to separate but still appear close together and quite striking, for a number of nights to come.
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Dec 18, 2020 7:24 AM
The Christmas season is an exciting time for a lot of reasons, including some very cool astronomical events.
‘The Backyard Astronomer’ Gary Boyle says a lot of people might be noticing a couple of planets which are visible to the naked eye right now.