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It’s a celestial event hundreds of years in the making. Conjunctions are common, occurring when any objects from our perspective get close to each other in space. The Great Conjunction is rare.
The Great Conjunction happens when Jupiter and Saturn get very close to each from our perspective. Not every Great Conjunction, however, is created equal and that’s what makes the one occurring on the winter solstice so rare and special.
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“Each Great Conjunction has different angular separations, or the distances between the two planets can vary by a bit depending on how everything is lined up,” said Seth Mayo, curator of astronomy at the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Daytona Beach.
The last time the two planets were this close to each other, from Earth’s point of view, was back in 1623. “The problem for this Great Conjunction is that it occurred very near sunset, so the Sun’s glare most likely obscured the pair of planets,” Mayo said. “The last observable time these planets were this close was the year 1226.”
Because the planets will be so close together near Christmas, it’s being dubbed the “Christmas Star” by some.
On Dec. 21, the two gas giants will be separated by only .1 degree. To the naked eye, it will likely appear as two distinguishable separate points, rather than one “star”, but it does depend on one’s eyesight and atmospheric conditions.
If you have a telescope, the two planets will show up in the same field of view.
Also in that field of view will reside the biggest moons of the two bodies. A telescope or binoculars will be needed to see the moons.
Beyond Dec. 21, Jupiter and Saturn will begin to move away from each other. This trend will continue for the next ten years before the two giants start to move closer together again during the 2030s. This will set up the next Great Conjunction in 2040, although that one will not be as brilliant as 2020′s.
The planets won’t be this close again until 2080. In an extremely rare fashion, Jupiter completely covers Saturn. That won’t happen again until 7541.
“On very rare occasions, these great conjunctions between Jupiter and Saturn can occur multiple times in a year, known as triple conjunctions, due to Earth overtaking these planets with its much faster orbit,” Mayo said. “That won’t happen again until the 2238-2239 time frame, so we have some waiting to do.”
The last time there was a triple conjunction was 1981.