The Rare Exceptional Great Conjunction
No, this blog is not about the last time you got any.
The bodies , that are the subject of this blog, are celestial.
To be exact, Jupiter and Saturn, the great gas bodies in our solar system.
And you think the great gas body was your ex.
Anyway, something is about to happen, that hasn't happened this much in 800 years and you can witness it this month.
Every 2 decades or so, Jupiter and Saturn appear to get quite close in the sky. They actually aren't close. They are 8 times less close to each other as we are to the sun. However, their orbits around our sun align them from our perspective to make them appear close,
as we see them in our night sky. This year they will seem so close, that they will overlap each other. The last time that happened was back in the year of 1226. Perhaps some of you remember it ?
When it happens, it will appear brighter than any star in the sky.
The night you can see it is on December 21st. Better mark it on your calendar. You forgot the last one.
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It happens each time they say: "Something interesting happens tonight - don't forget to look at the sky!".
That's what she said...
How did you know I forgot the last one?
This time I'll set my alarm clock.
Hardly the topic of conversation, but at least relevant to conjunctions. Remember Cook's tour of the Pacific and the Transit of Venus, Tahiti June 3rd 1769 by any chance? Happened recently, every 243 years in pairs - last two in 2004 and 2012
Nothing yet, too much light.
Look for the brightest object in the sky (other than the moon).
Orion to the east.
The sky outside is clear and the photo on my phone is good, but it's blurry here.
Maybe you can make out the Plough near the top left. There is a bright Star near the lower left.
Jupiter eclipsed Saturn, I think. The closest encounter here in the Bluegrass looked like Bojack's image above, but that happened 2 nights ago, not last night. Last night the planets had separated.
It's larger and closest to Earth.