Get ready to watch the 'Great Conjunction' of Saturn and Jupiter

 A 'Great Conjunction' is a conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn,  when these two planets appear closest together in the sky. 

The December 21, 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter is highly conspicuous in the west after sunset each evening now. On December 21, today the pair will be only 0.1 degree apart. Some say that the pair will look like an elongated star 💫 on this date.

Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe meetings of planets and other objects on our sky's dome.  Jupiter-Saturn are actually 456million miles(734,000 million km) apart. Saturn is nearly twice as far away as Jupiter. There conjunction happen every 20 years; the last one was in the year 2000.

What is unique about December 21, 2020 great conjunction?

The 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest since 1623 and the closest observable since 1226! 2020's extra close conjunction won't be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15,2080.

How to watch this great conjunction on the winter solstice day?

Jupiter is brightest than any star. Saturn is not bright as Jupiter but shines with distinctly golden colour. Saturn is just to the east of Jupiter on the sky's dome. The two are noticeable for their brightness and nearness to each other. Unlike the twinkling stars- Jupiter and Saturn both shine steadily.

Today Jupiter and Saturn will be closest- only 0.1 degrees apart. They are already amazing 😉.

To watch this rarest astronomical event look to the southwestern sky an hour after sunset probably (6:30pm- 7:30pm IST) just above the horizon. The planets can be seen with the unaided eye.