PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A celestial gift is coming our way: Jupiter and Saturn are coming together in a rare alignment on Monday.
It’s called “The Great Conjunction” and Ed Guinan, professor of astronomy and planetary science at Villanova University, said this is a rare occurrence when Jupiter and Saturn make a joint appearance.
“The last time you could actually see it was in 1623, and that was in the daytime so it wasn’t really good. And then (before that) 1226, so it’s a very rare event,” he said.
Two planets that are far away from each other will be in our line of sight, he explained.
“They’re half a billion miles apart. Saturn is farther away than Jupiter is, so they line up, from Earth you see them close in the sky. So it’s a pretty spectacular thing,” he continued.
Guinan said the planets have been moving closer together for months, but the big event is Monday just after sunset.
“On that night, the sun sets at 4:40, so you can start seeing it at twilight at 5:15, and by 6:30, they are so close to the horizon, they’ll be hard to see,” he said.
You’ll have the best view if you have binoculars, and you will be able to see the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn.
Guiinan also said you can watch it now, on Monday, and even in the weeks following the Great Conjunction. But don’t wait too long as it won’t be visible in our night time sky again until 2080.