The two largest planets in our solar system will be just 0.10° degrees apart Monday night, December 21st, 2020.
How does this happen? Saturn takes 29.4 years to go around the sun, while Jupiter takes 11.86 years. Therefore, every 20 years Jupiter catches up to Saturn from Earth’s perspective.
The last Jupiter-Saturn conjunction was in 2000, but not all conjunctions are equal. The 2020 conjunction will be the closest since 1623. The 1623 phenomenon was impossible to see from Earth because of a glare from the sun, therefore, this will be the closest alignment of the two planets seen from Earth since 1226.
On the night of December 21st, the best time to view will be just after sunset. Saturn and Jupiter will appear only 0.1° apart, making the planets look like a double planet. The two planets and their moons will be visible in the same field of view through binoculars and/or a telescope! Fingers crossed for clear skies!
