|
Credit & Copyright: Alireza Vafa
Explanation:
How close will Jupiter and Saturn be at their
Great
Conjunction?
Consider this beautiful triple conjunction of Moon, Jupiter and
Saturn captured through clouds in the wintry twilight.
The telephoto view
looks toward the western horizon
and the Alborz Mountains in Iran after sunset on December 17.
The
celestial gathering
makes it easy to see Jupiter and fainter Saturn are separated on that date by
roughly the diameter of the waxing crescent Moon.
On the day of their
Great Conjunction, solstice day December 21,
Jupiter and Saturn may seem to nearly merge though.
In
their closest conjunction
in 400 years they will be
separated on the sky by only about 1/5 the apparent diameter of the Moon.
By then the two largest worlds in the Solar System and
their moons will be sharing the same field of view in
telescopes
around planet Earth.
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day