The two largest planets will be a tenth of a step apart in what is known as the ‘Great Conjunction’.
Jupiter and Saturn come together in the night sky on Monday, appearing closer together than they have been since Galileo lived in the 17th century.
Astronomers say a so-called connection between the two largest planets in our solar system is not particularly rare – Jupiter passes its neighbor Saturn in the individual terraces around the Sun. every 20 years.
But the one that is coming up is particularly close: Jupiter and Saturn will be only a tenth of a degree beyond our view or about one-fifth the width of a full moon.
They should be easily visible around the world shortly after sunset, weather permitting.
Throw in the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year – and the summer solstice in the Southern Hemisphere – and the view promises to be like one of the Great Conferences.
To see, get ready shortly after sunset on Monday, looking southwest very low on the horizon.
Saturn will be the smaller, weakest blob to the right of Jupiter. Binoculars will be needed to separate the two planets.
Despite appearances, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be more than 730 million kilometers (450 million miles) apart.
The Earth, meanwhile, will be 890 million kilometers (550 million miles) from Jupiter.
The two planets get closer together and head for ‘Great Conjunction’. [Charlie Riedel/AP Photo]
“The rarest thing is the closest contact that occurs in our sky during the night,” said David Weintraub of Vanderbilt University, a professor of astronomy.
“I think it’s fair to say that an event like this can happen just once in anyone’s life, and I think ‘once in my life’ is a really good test of whether something deserves to be marked as rare or special. ”
This is the closest Jupiter-Saturn pair since July 1623, when the two planets appeared slightly closer. It was almost impossible to see this connection, however, due to its proximity to the sun.
Much closer and in clear view was the March 1226 connection of the two planets when Genghis Khan was taking over Asia.
The Monday pairing is the closest pairing visible from the way back then.
Saturn and Jupiter have been drawing closer to the southwestern sky for weeks. Jupiter – bigger and closer to Earth – is brighter.
Their next close couple: March 15, 2080.