Two of our solar system's largest planets get closer and closer together just days before Christmas. Astronomer Dean Regas from the Cincinnati Observatory calls the event the "Great Conjunction.""I mean this is the astronomical event of the year for the Cincinnati area," Regas said.This is not to be confused with the story that takes the spotlight as "The" Christmas Star. "Totally different thing, but I think it gets lumped into it because it's almost Christmas time. Dec. 21 is a pretty cool date. Also, it's the solstice, so we'll be looking forward to the daylight coming back after Dec. 21," Regas said. Jupiter and Saturn will be so close you can see them both in the telescope at the same time. "You're not going to exactly see one giant mega planet. They're going to be separated. If you have good eyesight or even average eyesight, you should be able to separate the two. What I'm kind of thinking it's going to look like is Jupiter is so much brighter than Saturn, you'll see Jupiter first, and then you might see a little lump on the side of it. That lump will be Saturn," he said."I have never seen this in all my years and probably never will again so I'm not going to miss it," he said. No telescope? No worries. This will be visible without one. Look to the southwestern sky between 6 to 6:45 p.m. Dec. 20-22. They will be closest on the 21.
Two of our solar system's largest planets get closer and closer together just days before Christmas.
Astronomer Dean Regas from the Cincinnati Observatory calls the event the "Great Conjunction."
"I mean this is the astronomical event of the year for the Cincinnati area," Regas said.
This is not to be confused with the story that takes the spotlight as "The" Christmas Star.
"Totally different thing, but I think it gets lumped into it because it's almost Christmas time. Dec. 21 is a pretty cool date. Also, it's the solstice, so we'll be looking forward to the daylight coming back after Dec. 21," Regas said.
Jupiter and Saturn will be so close you can see them both in the telescope at the same time.
"You're not going to exactly see one giant mega planet. They're going to be separated. If you have good eyesight or even average eyesight, you should be able to separate the two. What I'm kind of thinking it's going to look like is Jupiter is so much brighter than Saturn, you'll see Jupiter first, and then you might see a little lump on the side of it. That lump will be Saturn," he said.
"I have never seen this in all my years and probably never will again so I'm not going to miss it," he said.
No telescope? No worries. This will be visible without one. Look to the southwestern sky between 6 to 6:45 p.m. Dec. 20-22. They will be closest on the 21.
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'Great Conjunction' brings 'astronomical event of the year' to Cincinnati's sky - WLWT Cincinnati
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