The year 2020 has not been great for many of us, but what if I tell you that it was destined to have a great ending for cosmos lovers. Well, I have a very concrete reason for the above deduction. On 21 December 2020, the world is going to witness 'The Great Conjunction'.
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| Source - Google |
WHAT IS A CONJUNCTION?
In a general sense Conjunction is when two objects appear close to each other in the sky. The great conjunction refers to condition when the two space giants i.e., Jupiter and Saturn appear to be racing together in the dome of the sky. Eventually Jupiter will take over Saturn due to its shorter trajectory of motion (may sound unfair for Saturn, but this is how our solar system works). This event occurs once in every 20 years.
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| Source - Google |
Well, this is a legit question as we discussed above that the event repeats itself after every 20 years, but this span of time does not seem to be rare for an astronomical event as we know there are various other events which occurs periodically in our sky for example Halley's comet appears over in 76 years. Although the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn are rarer than in comparison of other conjunction, so it is called as Great Conjunction. To understand the singularity of the event lets first understand why this takes place. The Earth takes one year to complete one orbit of the Sun, but Jupiter takes 12 years, and Saturn takes 30 years. Due to their long orbits, Jupiter and Saturn meet in the sky only once every 20 years. In this period, Saturn completes two-thirds of its 30-year orbit (since 20 is two-thirds of 30). In the same period, Jupiter completes one 12-year orbit, plus, in the remaining 8 years, two-thirds of its next orbit (since 8 is two-thirds of 12). In other words, Jupiter takes 20 years to catch up and pass Saturn again as they revolve around the sun. But the laps taken by these two giants are not identical and due to several other factors, we do not witness the same great conjunction every time.
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| Source - Google |
The 2020 conjunction is special because the distance between Jupiter and Saturn will be of mere 0.1 degree. For some they might appear to be single bright star in the night sky, although a careful observer should be able to separate them in the sky with the naked eye. This is the closest the two space giants have come since July 16, 1623 and the distance was little less than 0.1 degree. However, it was not clearly visible as the planets were quite close to the Sun. The last time that the two planets were easily observable when separated by less than 0.1 degrees was almost 800 years ago, during the great conjunction of 1226.The next time when both will be separated by less than 0.2 degree will be in 2080.
How and where to look for this event?
You will be able to see the planet closest to each other just after the sunset on 21 December, which happens to be the Winter Solstice - the shortest day of the year. To Locate the planets in the nightsky you must look at the lower part of the sky in the South-West direction. The sun will set at 5.00pm on 21 December (may differ from place to place), by this time you should be ready to view the planets, as the planets will be around just 11 degree above from the horizon, and by every passing time the planets will slowly drift towards to the horizon.
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| Source - Google |
To get the best view, which will be after complete darkness as the planets will be brighter find place which will give you a clear view of the horizon, as by this time they will be just some degree above the horizon.
The planets will be visible to the naked eyes as both planets will be bright enough so the view will not be obscure by the city light. Jupiter is said to look like an unblinking star, while Saturn will appear slightly fainter and to the top left of the other planet. If you got a binocular, then it will be extremely helpful to get a better view. The best will be if you able to manage to observe them via a telescope as it will surely produce an amazing view. You will not only see them as discs but may even see Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s belts in the same view, along with the four Galilean moons of Jupiter and Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. I will recommend you pay a visit to any of your friend house who got a telescope, or you can also go to your nearest space observatory center.
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| Source - Google |
And at last, I would like to assure our readers that these conjunction does not have any significant impact on our planet Earth, so do not believe any kind of rumors related to this event. It is just an astronomical event like many others, but then Astrology will always have it say on every topic.
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