If you want to see something beautiful this week, set your eyes on the western sky this Thursday night, just after sunset.
For a short time, a crescent moon will twinkle at dusk along the two largest planets in the sun formula, Jupiter and Saturn, before the 3 celestial bodies sink in combination into the horizon as darkness approaches.
This is precisely where, when and how you can see the occasion with the naked eye this week.
On Thursday, November 19, 2020, it will be imaginable to see, just after sunset, a 28% moon illuminated next to Saturn (the highest) and Jupiter (lowest). The two fuel giants will be separated by only 3. 5 degrees.
From Europe, the view will be an almost unbeatable triangle, while in North America it will look like a very elongated triangle, but it will nevertheless be spectacular.
You will also be watching Wednesday, November 18, 2020, when just after sunset, a 19% illuminated crescent moon will appear about 10 degrees below Jupiter (below) and Saturn (above).
This year you will only be able to see another conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon, and this will be the last until 2040.
A conjunction occurs when two or more celestial elements seem to be combined in the sunset sky from our view of the Earth.
On Wednesday, December 16, 2020, a 7% illuminated crescent moon will be visual just below the two planets, however, the Moon will be so close to the horizon that it will require a very low view of the southwest horizon.
Next night, Thursday, December 17, 2020, will be the night to see the conjunction, when a 13% illuminated crescent moon will be just above and southwest of the planets.
However, the genuine draw in December is the last conjunction of the 3 for 20 years, however, Saturn and Jupiter will be just 3 days away from their own wonderful conjunction.
On Monday, December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will be only 0. 06 degrees away, the closest they seem to have been since July 16, 1623 and until March 15, 2080. They only intersect in the sun formula once every 20 years. so it’s a rare spectacle, even in human life.
At first glance, the two planets will glow almost like one on December 21, easy to see as separate worlds using binoculars or a small telescope.
This is a non-unusual view in the night sky in 2020. Our Moon is in conjunction with a plane almost every month because it revolves around the Earth on almost the same plane as the sun formula, known as the ecliptic, which is also the Sun Trail through the sky of hours of sunlight.
Conjunctions are “events” in the line of sight that are caused by the relative speeds of the planets, adding the Earth, when they revolve around the Sun. The fifth planet Jupiter takes 12 Earth years to complete an orbit, while the fourth Saturn takes 29 Earth years. years, so every 20 years they line up in the solar system.
The two planets were aligned with each other and with the Sun on November 2, 2020, however, from our point of view on Earth, Jupiter “overcatched” Saturn this year indoors, so they seemed to be close to each other in the afternoon sky.
Earth is now moving away from giant planets, so the December conjunction is also best for seeing Jupiter and Saturn nearby in combination in the night sky.
I wish you a clear sky and very open eyes.
I am an experienced journalist in the fields of science, generation and stargazer.
I am an experienced journalist in the fields of science, generation and travel and a stargazer. I write about night sky exploration, eclipses of the sun and moon, moon gazing, astro travel, astronomy, and area exploration. I am the editor of WhenIsTheNextEclipse. com and the writer of “A Stargazing Program for Beginners: A Pocket Field Guide” (Springer, 2015), as well as eclipse hunting guides.