What is happening tonight?! The Great Conjunction of 2020!! The solar system’s two giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, will align in the night sky — also referred to as the “Christmas Star. Watch to learn more about the conjunction! #STEMvee
Special thanks to Jake Norris for providing us with a script!
[Video Description: Alicia, an Asian woman with straight brown hair, is wearing a green short sleeve shirt in front of wooden paneling. A mirrored nightstand is to her right.]
Transcript: 2020 has had some really cool astronomical happenings! On the 21st of this month alone, the same night of this year’s December solstice, will have the Great Conjunction. A conjunction is when two or more astronomical bodies appear to align with each other in Earth’s sky. One body may appear higher in the sky than the other, but will be in the same vertical line. A great conjunction is when Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system and among the brightest objects in the night sky, align. The planets’ orbits are not perfectly in line, so Saturn will be slightly above and to the left of Jupiter. All this month, Jupiter has been moving towards Saturn in the sky. Jupiter is currently behind Saturn in orbit around the Sun, relative to us. Jupiter, however, moves around the Sun faster and will soon pass Saturn. As it does so, the two planets will appear like they meet each other in our sky. They will appear closest together on the 21st. This does not mean the two planets are actually closer together in space, however, as they will still be over 456 million miles from each other! The conjunction of these two planets happens approximately every 20 years, but what is special about this one? Due to the tilt and elliptical path of each planet’s orbit, many great conjunctions have about 1 degree of separation in the sky. If you held your pinky finger at arm’s length distance in front of you, you would be able to cover the separation of planets at 1 degree separation. The conjunction this year will appear to be about a 1/10th of a degree apart or a dime thickness apart. The two planets have not appeared this close for almost 800 years since they have been so close and readily observable in the night sky. The next time they will appear this close will be in 2080. If weather conditions are right, almost everywhere in the world will be able to observe the occurrence. In the northern hemisphere the planets can be spotted near where the sun will be setting in the southwest portion of the sky. The best viewing in the US will occur around 1 hour after sunset, with the planets setting about 2 hours after sunset.. They will be easy to spot with the naked eye but if you happen to have a small telescope, or even binoculars, you may be able to observe the larger moons with both planets in the same field of view! If you can’t observe it on the 21st, try a day or two before or after, when the planets still appear really close to each other in our sky and watch the planets separate over the coming weeks!
