Jupiter and Saturn met closely on the 21st. The meeting of Jupiter and Saturn, also called the’Christmas Star’, moved many people’s eyes to the night sky.
On the 22nd (local time), the US IT media Cnet introduced a collection of photos of the meeting of Jupiter and Saturn observed around the world.
Ed Piotrowski, chief meteorologist at WPDE-TV in South Carolina, USA, posted a photo of Jupiter and Saturn’s wonderful meeting on his Twitter (@EdPiotrowski). “Soon after 6pm, it’s a great combination of Jupiter and Saturn through my telescope,” he said. “I see Jupiter’s four moons: Europa, Ganymede, Io & Callisto, and Saturn’s moon Titan.”
Twitter user @Army1Seven also released photos of the two planets taken at 5:30 pm, and Twitter user @TomKierein also released photos of Jupiter and its four satellites and Saturn, taken with the Melbourne Telescope, Australia.
The close encounter between Jupiter and Saturn is very rare, unlike other planets. Jupiter’s orbiting period is 11.9 years and Saturn’s orbiting period is 29.5 years. Due to the difference in orbiting period, the two planets get close to each other about once every 19.9 years.
The reason the two planets meet is different from other times is that in the Earth’s sky, the two planets meet approximately 0.1 degrees apart and appear to overlap. Cnet reported that this phenomenon occurs about 800 years after December 21, 1226.
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At the meeting of Jupiter and Saturn this year, it is known that the distance between Jupiter and Saturn has become as close as a fifth of the diameter of the full moon. The next close proximity of Jupiter and Saturn is predicted to be March 15, 2080.
Looking up at the southwestern sky from the 21st to around Christmas, you can observe the approach of Jupiter and Saturn.