You can expect a pleasant year-end treat to take over the skies on Monday, as the ‘Great Conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn is expected to reach its peak on the evening of the winter solstice. While the phenomenon of planetary conjunction itself isn’t incredibly rare, occurring every few years, this conjunction will appear to be the closest seen between Jupiter and Saturn in over 400 years.
Brian McNamara is the Chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department and Research Chair in Astrophysics at the University of Waterloo studying black holes and other astrophysical phenomenon. Speaking to the phenomenon of Greater Conjunction, McNamara said the last time the two planets could be seen in the same telescopic view would have been in the Middle Ages.
“To look up in the sky and see what appears to be a double planet is pretty unusual – it’s a really beautiful phenomenon…” said McNamara. “I think what it does is it just reminds us of the geometry of the solar system, how orbits work and so on … it’s a nice way to get people looking up and looking out into the sky and pondering the universe…”
The phenomenon has been referred to by some as the ‘Christmas Star’, a biblical reference to the Star of Bethlehem. McNamara said that people have wondered what authors of the time could have been referring to, as some have speculated the phenomenon could be explained by a supernova or the alignment of certain planets.
“It’s near Christmas… it’s on the solstice… I think naturally people try to connect that (…) but whether there’s any significance to that, I don’t know.”
While tonight’s forecast may be looking cloudy, McNamara said the two planets have been converging for some time – tonight is only their point of closest approach. While they will travel away from each other “fairly quickly,” McNamara says Jupiter and Saturn will still be visible in close proximity for the next several weeks.
“The exciting part is, over the next couple of nights (…) depending on your telescope, you can see both planets in the same field of view – that’s just a beautiful thing to see… that’s pretty rare in anyone’s lifetime…”
Speaking to his own personal experience, McNamara said an astronomical event like this is a fond reminder as to how he got started in his field in the first place – as he says beautiful astronomical events like this stoke the imagination and remind us of our place in the cosmos. For those that miss the chance to see the event, McNamara said that amateur astronomers from around the world will likely be sharing their own fantastic photographs of the view over the next few weeks.
“Every few months, there’s always some event that’s happening in the sky that tugs on the heart and tugs on the imagination…” said McNamara. “It’s a nice way to get out of the mire that we’re in right now with COVID-19… all the anxiety and so on. You look out and realize – we’re going to get through it.”
“It’s just a beautiful thing to think about – our place in the cosmos.”
McNamara said he hopes the Great Conjunction will bring people a little extra bit of joy to make it through what’s been a “tough year”, ushering in a New Year that’s “looking up and looking positive”.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMikAFodHRwczovL3d3dy5raXRjaGVuZXJ0b2RheS5jb20vbG9jYWwtbmV3cy9yYXJlLWNocmlzdG1hcy1zdGFyLXBsYW5ldGFyeS1hbGlnbm1lbnQtdG8tYmUtdmlzaWJsZS1pbi10aGUtcmVnaW9uLW92ZXItdGhlLW5leHQtZmV3LWV2ZW5pbmdzLTMyMDI2MzjSAZQBaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cua2l0Y2hlbmVydG9kYXkuY29tL2FtcC9sb2NhbC1uZXdzL3JhcmUtY2hyaXN0bWFzLXN0YXItcGxhbmV0YXJ5LWFsaWdubWVudC10by1iZS12aXNpYmxlLWluLXRoZS1yZWdpb24tb3Zlci10aGUtbmV4dC1mZXctZXZlbmluZ3MtMzIwMjYzOA?oc=5
2020-12-21 20:00:00Z
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