Jupiter and Saturn are the largest planets in the solar system, and the two giants will star on Monday in a conjunction that is not of great relevance from the scientific point of view but as a historical milestone , because that alignment had not been recorded for 400 years and It will repeat until 2080 .
A conjunction that, in addition to being exceptional and unique, will be especially interesting due to the proximity of the two planets , which will be located only 810 million kilometers away, an astronomical event that has mobilized numerous scientific institutions and astronomical societies around the world to make observations and live broadcasts of the event .
In addition, the alignment of the Earth with Jupiter and Saturn will coincide with the winter solstice -the shortest day and the longest night of the year-, and all the astronomers consulted have agreed in pointing out that it is precisely this type of event that favors the connection between science and society and those that unleash the fascination for the Universe.
Visible to the naked eye
Several scientific institutions, researchers, fans and disseminators have scheduled numerous spaces and retransmissions -although there will be no face-to-face concentrations- for the contemplation of a line-up that will culminate on Monday and that will be visible, if the sky allows it, to the naked eye , but that will be perfect with binoculars or simple telescopes, with which you can even distinguish the numerous satellites of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn .
Researcher Miguel Angel Lopez Valverde , from the Andalusian Institute of Astrophysics (IAA/CSIC) has pointed out that this is a “particularly beautiful” opportunity to observe this historical event -better even from amateur telescopes than from the most sophisticated and professional observatories- , and has underlined the interest aroused by the alignments of the bodies of the Solar System and especially eclipses.
Valverde has explained that these eclipses, especially when a planet aligns with a distant star, they reveal to scientists information about the composition and density of a planet’s atmosphere and thus also the conditions of habitability.
It has not happened since 1623
The orbits of Jupiter and Saturn produce conjunctions every twenty years, but rarely as close as the one that will be recorded this year, according to researcher Ricardo Hueso , a member of the Planetary Sciences Group of the University of the Basque Country, who has pointed out that a similar alignment had not occurred since 1623, although then it was more difficult to observe due to the apparent proximity of the two objects to the Sun.
Hueso has explained that the two planets came so close that they appeared to the eyes of observers “like a single bright star instead of like two planets “, and that from Monday they will begin to distance themselves in the night sky, an effect also apparent since the two planets are in very different orbits.
How to observe
it
The president of the Federation of Astronomical Associations of Spain, Blanca Troughton , has stressed how easy it will be to observe this conjunction with the naked eye, even in places -such as large cities- with a lot of light pollution , since the two planets stand out among the brightest objects of the night sky
Troughton details how : you have to look west, after sunset, to see two bright objects very close to 20 degrees above the horizon (approximately the space that covers the palm of the extended hand), and as the days go by they will get closer until Monday they appear as a single point of light.
And although the two planets will appear in the sky as aligned, in reality they will be separated by a distance equivalent to five times that between the Earth and the Sun , the president of this federation has observed.
Nothing has to do with the star of Bethlehem
Nothing has to do besides this phenomenon with the star of Bethlehem, according to scientists, who have pointed out that there is no evidence that there was a similar conjunction of planets in the year 0.
“We don’t know for sure what the star of Bethlehem could be, ” said Victoriano Canales , coordinator of the activities of the Federation of Astronomical Associations of Spain and representative of this organization at NASA, and has also ruled out that it was a supernova (explosion of stars) since the scans carried out with radio telescopes have not detected any trace of these explosions.
Scientific institutions, societies and astronomical associations have scheduled live broadcasts of the event for Monday night (including the FAAE YouTube channel) to that anyone can contemplate this historical event as if they had a telescope.
