Look Up

If there was ever a time to look up, Monday night is the time to do it. Going to a dark spot isn’t necessary for this event, all that is required is having an obstructed view of the southwest. If you haven’t heard yet, there will be the “great conjunction” on Monday. According to EarthSky.org, astronomers use the term conjunction to describe meetings of planets and other objects in our sky. They use the term great conjunction to describe the meeting of the two biggest worlds in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn. For the past several months, Jupiter and Saturn have been approaching each other slowly and steadily. Take a look at it tonight and there will be a comparable difference with Monday night. Just look for the crescent moon in the southwest sky, then to the slightly lower and to the right and there will be what will look like two very bright stars, but they are actually Jupiter and Saturn. They’re visible just after sunset. The sun sets at 4:54 p.m. Sunday and a minute later on Monday. They will be hard to miss, even through all of our light pollution. They will only be there for just a little over two hours and will set just after 7:10 p.m. on both nights.

According to Alamnac.com, the great conjunction happens just once every two decades and 2020 brings the closest Jupiter-Saturn conjunction since 1623, during Galileo’s times. It’s the closest great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 397 years! Then unlike previous conjunctions, this one’s not obscured by the sun’s glare. Once every 20 years makes this event seem more common than it really is. For instance, during the last great conjunction in May 2000, the planets never came anywhere as close together as they will this month. In addition, we’re closer to the sun and partially hidden in solar glare so it wasn’t eye-catching. The same was true the time before in December of 1980. It was back in February 1961, that another great conjunction that remotely competes with this one, but even that was far inferior to the 2020’s great conjunction. The same is true with looking ahead. The one in October 2040 won’t be very good at all, with the planets fairly widely separated. The same will be true in October of 2060. The next one as good as this one won’t be until March 15, 2080! Actually, that one will be even better, since it will be low in the eastern sky before dawn, the two giant planets will seemingly merge into a single brilliant star or rare double planet. Which is what some are saying about our current great conjunction.