Jupiter and Saturn in the next couple of weeks
- Thread starter Jessie
- Start date
ggibson511960
Well-known member
They have been close for the past six months. Mars is not too far away. I stay up to watch ISS passes which coincide with clear evenings when these three planets are on display. When the moon is up you can see four heavenly bodies while standing on another.
Hair Trigger
US Veteran
Closest approach is 12/21, but any three nights 12/19, 12/20, or 12/21 will be great to look. Those nights, the apparent distance between them will be less than half the width of the full Moon. I hope it's clear the night of the 20th, hope to get some images through my telescope.
Below is a screen shot from Stellarium, a virtual sky program. It shows the two planets, plus the four Gallilean moons of Jupiter, plus the three largest moons of Saturn. There's a random star mixed in with the Jovian moons, and my computer's cursor is off to the right of Jupiter. This is the view you'd get at about 550X with a telescope. I won't get that much detail, I'll be using more along the lines of 200X, if the weather cooperates.
Over consecutive nights, Saturn will move down and to the right of Jupiter on 12/22 it will be about where my cursor is relative to Jupiter. Both planets will drop below the horizon around 7:25 pm EST, but horizon obstruction and skyglow will probably prevent viewing them after about 7:10pm EST. It will only get dark enough to see Saturn by 5:30 pm EST, so there's a fairly narrow window to see this.
Next time this occurs will be 2080, but the planets will be higher in the sky. care to hang around a while to see it again?
Below is a screen shot from Stellarium, a virtual sky program. It shows the two planets, plus the four Gallilean moons of Jupiter, plus the three largest moons of Saturn. There's a random star mixed in with the Jovian moons, and my computer's cursor is off to the right of Jupiter. This is the view you'd get at about 550X with a telescope. I won't get that much detail, I'll be using more along the lines of 200X, if the weather cooperates.
Over consecutive nights, Saturn will move down and to the right of Jupiter on 12/22 it will be about where my cursor is relative to Jupiter. Both planets will drop below the horizon around 7:25 pm EST, but horizon obstruction and skyglow will probably prevent viewing them after about 7:10pm EST. It will only get dark enough to see Saturn by 5:30 pm EST, so there's a fairly narrow window to see this.
Next time this occurs will be 2080, but the planets will be higher in the sky. care to hang around a while to see it again?
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