Jupiter and Saturn to be close in 'The Great Conjunction' on Dec 21

Arvind Paranjpye, director, Nehru Planetarium

An extremely rare occurrence will take place in the sky close to midnight on December 21, when two of the biggest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, will be seen very close to each other-in what is called 'The Great Conjunction.' At 11:50 PM, the angle between the two planets will be just about 0.1 degrees or 06'06" (six minutes and six seconds) from each other. Speaking to mid-day, Arvind Paranjpye, director of Nehru Planetarium, said, "This will be a very special event. The planets will be so close to each other that it will be extremely difficult-if not completely impossible-to see them separately with the naked eyes."

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Paranjpye further said, "This is the second closest conjunction of these two planets since the invention of the telescope in 1609. On July 16, 1623, the two planets were 5'10" from each other." Explaining where to look in the sky for the great conjunction, he said, "On December 15, about 30 minutes after the sunset, one should face west where one can see a thin lunar crescent right above the horizon. It might be difficult to observe. The pair of Jupiter and Saturn can be seen well above the horizon. The next day, the lunar crescent will be seen very clearly right below the two planets. On December 17, the crescent Moon would have moved further up. For the next two days, that is until December 19, one can still see the two planets separately in the sky. But from December 20-23, they will be so close together it will not be easy to distinguish one from the other." Explaining the phenomenon wherein the two largest planets actually look like one to the naked human eye, he said, "The orbital period of Jupiter is 11.86 years and that of Saturn is 29.5 years. The combined effect of their travel around the Sun results in the great conjunction taking place periodically once every 19 years and 7 months. However, the degree of separation between the two varies from one conjunction to the other."

"The two planets will again come this close, actually slightly closer, on March 15, 2080 when they will be separated by 06'01", said Paranjpye.

What is a conjunction
When two planets are seen close to each other in the sky the event is called conjunction (of planets). A conjunction of the two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn is called great conjunction.

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