On Monday, 21 Dec., Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer together in the night sky than they have since the 1600s.
The Cayman Islands Astronomical Society is inviting the public to come and view the ‘Great Conjunction’, as it is known, through the group’s telescopes for free at Pedro St. James on Monday evening, from 6pm.
The Astronomical Society’s Tiyen Miller said, “The two giant planets of Jupiter and Saturn, and their moons, will appear right next to each other in the western sky after sunset. They’ve not appeared so close together for centuries so this is really special.
“To get an idea of how close they are together, if you stretch your hand as far as you can in front of you and look at the fingernail of your pinkie, both the planets would easily fit in that space. You’ll be able to look at both of them through the same telescopic views simultaneously.”
According to NASA, the Great Conjunction occurs once every 20 years, but this year’s event will be the closest the two planets will appear since 1623 – just after Galileo first observed them with his telescope.
The planets can also be easily viewed by the naked eye, and will appear brighter than almost every other star in the sky. They will be visible in the early evening for one to two hours.
Miller said visitors to Pedro St. James on Monday night will also get a chance to use the telescopes to view the moon, Mars, the Andromeda galaxy and the Pleiades cluster of stars. The Outpost bar and restaurant will also be open that night so skygazers can avail themselves of refreshments.
The viewing will be cancelled in the event of more than 50% cloud cover, Miller advised.
For more information, visit the Cayman Islands Astronomical Society page on Facebook.
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