Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2020 December 19

                          Conjunction after Sunset
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Alireza Vafa

   Explanation: How close will Jupiter and Saturn be at their Great
   Conjunction? Consider this beautiful triple conjunction of Moon,
   Jupiter and Saturn captured through clouds in the wintry twilight. The
   telephoto view looks toward the western horizon and the Alborz
   Mountains in Iran after sunset on December 17. The celestial gathering
   makes it easy to see Jupiter and fainter Saturn are separated on that
   date by roughly the diameter of the waxing crescent Moon. On the day of
   their Great Conjunction, solstice day December 21, Jupiter and Saturn
   may seem to nearly merge though. In their closest conjunction in 400
   years they will be separated on the sky by only about 1/5 the apparent
   diameter of the Moon. By then the two largest worlds in the Solar
   System and their moons will be sharing the same field of view in
   telescopes around planet Earth.

                    Tomorrow's picture: pillars and jets
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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