We have been struggling a bit recently with observations but the close approach of the Moon and Mars produced the goods on the 25th November. It was good to see. Let’s hope ‘the great conjunction’ lives up to expectations but more on that later. Observing December is the last month in the year and the winter solstice takes place on the 21st so I thought it was time to take a look at the bigger picture rather than focussing on the detail and where better to start than the winter night sky.The charts below represent the whole night sky at 10.00pm on the 8th December and at 9.00pm on the 23rd December. The first chart is the night sky facing north. Most people believe that it is a good idea that we all know some basic first aid. How to deal with cuts, bruises, stings and nose bleeds. More serious problems can be left to the professionals. By the same token I think everyone should know something about observing the night sky and I’ve come up with my list of five objects in the winter night sky which I think everyone should recognise. (Yes, I did have a job limiting it to five!). Obviously this is my personal list and some of you may come up with your own different selection. These are the things which I think you should be pointing out to your children and grandchildren on a crisp clear winter’s evening. It might just get them hooked on astronomy.
This second chart is the night sky facing south. 3. Orion As I said last month, Orion has everything and I would defy anyone not to have it on their list of things to see in the winter’s evening sky. It is a brilliant object in the sky and attracts everyone’s attention. Its bright stars and distinctive belt are likely to produce questions so you might want to be able to name Betelgeuse and Rigel if asked. Like The Plough, Orion also leads you on to other objects like my next choice. 4. The Pleiades ( or Seven Sisters) The Pleiades doesn’t form a large object in the sky but it does catch the eye when looking at the sky hence on the list. Found by extending a line from Orion’s belt through the red star Aldebaran. Use a pair of binoculars to enhance the view. 5. Sirius Simply a star but it does happen to be the brightest star in the night sky when it is present so it should be up there with the tallest mountain and longest river as an item of general knowledge. It is also of historical interest because its appearance was used by the early Egyptians to tell that the river Nile was about to flood. Again easily located to the bottom left hand side of Orion. I’m sure many of you will have your own favourites and might be wondering why I have not included them but I wanted to restrict the list to five. Remember this is just a starting point. Something to look out for Mars continues to be easily observed during the evening but this month it will have to take second place to ‘the great conjunction’. First though, there is a close approach of a three day old Moon with Jupiter and Saturn on the 17th December. Visible above the south-west horizon from around 4.30pm as darkness falls, this will provide an opportunity to get your bearings right for the ‘great conjunction’ four days later. On the evening of the winter solstice, 21st December, the planets Jupiter and Saturn will be within about a tenth of a degree of each other. Remember that the Moon has an angular width of about half a degree so these two planets will be separated by about one fifth of the Moon’s diameter. Jupiter is much brighter than Saturn so they might be difficult to resolve. Of course these planets are widely separated in space and this optical effect comes about because Jupiter revolves around the Sun in just under 12 years whereas the orbital period of Saturn is over 29 years and so Jupiter laps Saturn every twenty years. This is the closest they have appeared since 1623 and won’t appear as close again until 2083 so definitely a once in a lifetime event. I’ve included the chart just to show that Jupiter and Saturn will be close to the horizon and will set at 6.30pm. The Sun will set at 4.03pm so you will need to be outside during twilight to be ready to observe either side of 5.30pm. and you will need an unobstructed view to the south-west/west horizon. Let’s hope the skies are clear. The planets will still be within a degree of each other the weeks either side of the winter solstice so try to catch them whenever you can. The diagram below shows their separation over a two week period.
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As 2020 draws to a close we can look forward to a once in 20 year astronomical event, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, on the 21st of December. What is a Conjunction? Occasionally two or more objects meet up with each other in our sky. Astronomers use the word conjunction to describe these meetings. Technically speaking, objects are said to be in conjunction in that instant when they have the same right ascension on our sky’s dome. Practically speaking, objects in conjunction will likely be visible near each other for some days. The word conjunction comes from Latin, meaning to join together. In language, conjunctions relate to clauses brought together in sentences with words like and. In astronomy, conjunctions relate to two or more objects brought together in the sky as we see them. An inferior conjunction is when an object passes between us and the sun. Any object in space that orbits the sun closer than Earth’s orbit might pass through inferior conjunction from time to time, assuming its orbit lies more or less close to the ecliptic. Usually, though, when you hear the words inferior conjunction, astronomers are speaking of the planets Venus and Mercury, which orbit the sun inside Earth’s orbit. Astronomers sometimes refer to Venus and Mercury as inferior planets. When they’re at or near inferior conjunction, we can’t see them. They’re hidden in the sun’s glare. Occasionally, though, Venus or Mercury can be seen to transit across the sun’s disk at inferior conjunction. Consider also the moon. It passes between the Earth and sun at new moon once each month. Therefore you could say that the Moon is at inferior conjunction when it’s a New Moon. A superior conjunction is when an object passes behind the sun from our point of view. Think of Venus or Mercury again. Half of their conjunctions with the sun – when they are brought together with the sun on our sky’s dome – are inferior conjunctions, and half are superior conjunctions. It’s kind of fun to imagine them on an endless cycle of passing in front of the sun, as seen from Earth, then behind it, and back again, like watching squirrels running around a tree. Meanwhile, the superior planets – or planets farther from the sun than Earth such as Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune – can never be at inferior conjunction. However there are many more conjunctions that occur which fall into neither of these categories. They occur when planets, or a planet and the moon, appear close together in the sky. The conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn is one of these and is often called a Great Conjunction. How often do they happen? As a result of their long orbits, Jupiter and Saturn meet in the sky only once every 20 years. In this period of time, Saturn completes two-thirds of its 30-year orbit (since 20 is two-thirds of 30). In the same period, Jupiter completes one 12-year orbit, plus, in the remaining 8 years, two-thirds of its next orbit (since 8 is two-thirds of 12). In other words, 20 years is the time it takes Jupiter to catch up and pass Saturn again as they circle the Sun. The last conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred on 28 May 2000, but was almost impossible to view because it occurred while the two planets were just 14.9° west of the Sun from our point of view. So the spectacle was largely lost in the Sun’s glare. After 2020, the next great conjunctions will occur on November 2, 2040 and April 7, 2060. On both these occasions, the minimum separation of Jupiter and Saturn will be 1.1 degrees—which means they will appear 11 times further apart from each other than on December 21, 2020. In fact, the 2020 great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn is exceptionally close. Over a period of one thousand years, from 1600 to 2599, there are only six great conjunctions where the minimum separation between Jupiter and Saturn is less than 0.2 degrees: 1623, 1683, 2020, 2080, 2417, and 2477. Though each successive ‘great conjunction’ takes place around 117º apart in the sky, the planets’ orbital resonance is such that each conjunction returns to the same part of the sky roughly every 800 years. How and when to see it The conjunction actually occurs at 13:30 GMT – that’s when the right ascension of the two planets will be the same, but the Sun will still be high in the sky at that point. When the Sun sets at 16:05 (according to Heavens Above website) the two planets will only be 14 degrees above the south-western horizon and set less than 2hrs 30mins later. But don’t just rely on clear skies on the night. The two planets are already nice and close together as we look at them so just in case the great British weather lets us down on the 21st make sure you take a look in the evenings leading up to the big night.
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