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Observation Notes: The Great Conjunction
Dec. 21st, 2020 06:18 pmCrossposted from Acrophilia.
Tonight saw the closest conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn since July 1623, so of course I had to go out and see it for myself. As both planets are bright, easily observable objects, the conjunction was plainly visible from the light-polluted heart of Sunnyvale. My only worry was a cloud bank over the Santa Cruz Mountains, but this proved to be a non-factor. I found the best nearby view of the southwestern sky to be the Fair Oaks overpass above Central Expressway. Through my binoculars, while not good enough to clearly resolve the Jovian and Saturnian moons, the two planets were clearly visible close together in the same field of view, with Jupiter, significantly brighter, to the left and a bit below Saturn.
Tonight saw the closest conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn since July 1623, so of course I had to go out and see it for myself. As both planets are bright, easily observable objects, the conjunction was plainly visible from the light-polluted heart of Sunnyvale. My only worry was a cloud bank over the Santa Cruz Mountains, but this proved to be a non-factor. I found the best nearby view of the southwestern sky to be the Fair Oaks overpass above Central Expressway. Through my binoculars, while not good enough to clearly resolve the Jovian and Saturnian moons, the two planets were clearly visible close together in the same field of view, with Jupiter, significantly brighter, to the left and a bit below Saturn.
