Twas the night before the big Jupiter & Saturn conjunction and all through the sky not a creature was stirring except my Nikon clicking away!
Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction Dec. 20, 2020
I shot these two this evening from my heavily treed backyard. Photo settings were as follows: 100mm, F/5.6, 2.5 second exposure and ISO1600 with a Nikon D5100.
At first glance you might think there is not much to see here, and if you were expecting the festoons of Jupiter or Saturn’s rings you’d be right but looking closer you can definitely make out a few things. Jupiter is clearly brighter than Saturn and Saturn is more orange in color than Jupiter. You can just see a hint of the Galilean moons around Jupiter as well.
After a year that won’t soon be forgotten, of course I’m talking about the pandemic, there are a number of celestial events occurring this December that should peak your interest and get you out of the house in the cold morning or night air.
A pair of meteor showers, a pair of conjunctions (one of which will be epic), the December Solstice and a total solar eclipse for sky watchers in South America all happening in December. Throw in Christmas and New Year’s Eve and you have a busy month to be sure. So let’s run them down in a little more detail.
Current amateur astronomy information such as points of interest and events in the night sky, star party dates, educational information, telescopes buying tips and much more.
