Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                          Conjunction after Sunset
                Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Alireza Vafa

   Explanation: How close will Jupiter and Saturn be at their [5]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. [6]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. [7]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 [8]telescopes around planet Earth.

                    Tomorrow's picture: pillars and jets
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    Authors & editors: [20]Robert Nemiroff ([21]MTU) & [22]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([23]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Phillip Newman [24]Specific rights apply.
              [25]NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices
                A service of: [26]ASD at [27]NASA / [28]GSFC
                           & [29]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2012/ConjunctionPanorama1-S2.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.instagram.com/ali.reza.vafa/?hl=en
   5. https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/jupiter-and-saturn-embrace-in-solstice-conjunction/
   6. https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1615/how-to-photograph-the-conjunction-of-saturn-and-jupiter/
   7. https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2020/12/17/jupiter-saturn-great-conjunction-watch-best-view-since-middle-ages/
   8. https://www.virtualtelescope.eu/2020/10/01/the-2020-jupiter-saturn-great-conjunction-online-observation-21-dec-2020/
   9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201218.html
  10. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  13. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  18. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=201219
  19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap201220.html
  20. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  21. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  22. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  23. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  24. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  25. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  26. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  27. https://www.nasa.gov/
  28. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  29. http://www.mtu.edu/