The" great conjunction " of Saturn and Jupiter will take place today

The great conjunction is the closest approach of two giant planets-Saturn and Jupiter — in the firmament. On December 21, the minimum distance between these planets will be 6 arc minutes. For comparison, the diameter of the full moon is about 30 arc minutes. Visually, the planets will look like a "double star". In fact, naturally, Saturn and Jupiter will be separated by a huge distance-about 750 million kilometers.

The Great Conjunction 2020, like many things in the past year, will be special-the planets will come closer to the minimum (from the point of view of an observer from Earth) since 1623 (while in that year it was impossible to conduct observations due to the proximity of the planets to the Sun).

By the way, according to the version of Johannes Kepler, put forward by him after observing the great conjunction in 1603, the famous star of Bethlehem could also be the great conjunction of two celestial giants.

So, how and when will this astronomical event be seen?

Turn your gaze to the southwest after sunset. At the latitude of Moscow, the planets will be very low, so find a place with a well-viewed horizon and do not hesitate — at 18:30 Moscow time, the planets will go beyond the horizon. The best time to observe is around 17: 30.

If cloud cover interferes with your observations today, it's okay, until the end of the year, the planets will still be located very close to the sky.

The next equally close great conjunction will occur in 2080.