3 Perspectives: The Great Jupiter Saturn Winter 2020 Conjunction

Tonight, the first day of winter 2020, will bring Jupiter and Saturn closer together than they have appeared in nearly 800 years, which will see the two planets separated by about a tenth of an angular degree. For comparison, a little finger held at arm’s length spans about half of a degree. The best news: this will be an event visible to the naked eye as all one has to do is look low in the Southwest about an hour after sunset. Jupiter is the brighter, lower planet and Saturn is the dimmer, higher one.

However, for some real fun, add optical aid. With binoculars of around 10x power (and held steadily or mounted on a tripod), the two objects will become six as Jupiter’s four largest moons will pop into view, appearing as tiny stars in a line around the planet. Saturn may also appear slightly oval in shape.

With a telescope, the rings of Saturn will become visible, as will the cloud bands on Jupiter. For an interesting comparison, look at the span of Jupiter’s moons as compared to the separation between the two planets. Visually, the planets will appear closer together than the most distant of the moons, although they will actually be hundreds of millions of miles distant in space.

As for what to expect, look no farther than below as the three pictures taken on Sunday, December 20 show the perspectives from naked eye (Nikon D700 and 50mm lens), binocular (200mm lens), and telescopic (600mm FL) view. 

 

 

 

Whichever way you plan to view the event, don’t miss it if its clear. Additionally, the planets will remain extremely close the next few nights if it’s cloudy, switching places along the way.

 

Way Back When . . . 

As an interesting aside, this event takes place almost exactly 14 years after another historic conjunction, which saw 3 planets, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter, all come to within a degree of each other. Here's my photo from that event with my old Hewlett-Packard PS 945 point and shoot (yes, HP made cameras back in those days!). The photo is at 300mm equivalent.

Oh yes, I got featured (sort of) with this picture on Spaceweather, too.

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