Catch a glimpse of this phenomenon if you can: the next super-close pairing of the two planets won’t be until March 15, 2080.
A crescent moon (L) is seen with Saturn (upper right) and Jupiter (lower right) ahead of their closest visible conjunction on December 17, 2020 in Antalya, Turkey. On December 21, a Jupiter and Saturn conjunction will form a rare “double planet” for the first time in 400 years and will be the closest the two planets have been since 1623. Chris McGrath, Getty
Jupiter and Saturn will merge in the night sky Monday, appearing closer to one another than they have since Galileo’s time in the 17th century.
Astronomers say so-called conjunctions between the two largest planets in our solar system aren’t particularly rare. Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in their respective laps around the sun every 20 years.
But the one coming up is especially close: Jupiter and Saturn will be just one-tenth of a degree apart from our perspective or about one-fifth the width of a full moon. The two planets haven’t been this close together in nearly 400 years, and haven’t been visible during this encounter for nearly 800 years, according to CBS News. They should be easily visible around the world a little after sunset, weather permitting.
The sun will set at 4:23 p.m. in Chicago on Monday.
Toss in the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year — and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere — and this just-in-time-for-Christmas spectacle promises to be one of the greatest of Great Conjunctions.
The two planets will be so close they will appear as a single bright point in the sky, which, paired with the phenomenon’s proximity to the holiday, has earned this year’s appearance the nickname of “the Christmas star.”
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