Jupiter and Saturn closest in almost 600 yrs!

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 3:40PM

So show your space related coins and medals. I don't have any but I did get to look at the planets last night. Gonna be cloudy here tonight so I will miss the merge. My 8" telescope is boxed up but I do have a little celestron C90 which I got a picture of at least the moon last night. Couldn't get a pic of the planets that was worth looking at.

TomB · December 21, 2020 3:41PM

We took a look before, but it is too overcast here tonight.

lkeigwin · December 21, 2020 3:55PM

Got a great view at 6AM this morning using binoculars. The images of the two planets had not quite merged. The very early evening tonight should be ideal.

Nice moon pic, Bobby!
Lance.

Onastone · December 21, 2020 3:58PM

@bsshog40 said:

I got a picture of at least the moon last night.

Fabulous moon shot!!! Love it! It's completely overcast here tonight....

johnny9434 · December 21, 2020 3:59PM

@TomB said:
We took a look before, but it is too overcast here tonight.

Same in this area

jesbroken · December 21, 2020 3:59PM

Overcast here as well.
Jim

Coinlearner · December 21, 2020 4:15PM

"space related coins and medals"

logger7 · December 21, 2020 4:18PM

A local astronomical society I've been a member of has some good information: https://www.was-ct.org/ They had David Pogue give a talk there as well as other university based professors.

Another good link:

https://twitter.com/physicsJ/status/1340606278628900864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5Eprofile%3Awestportskyguys&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.was-ct.org%2F

Raybo · December 21, 2020 4:22PM

It's cloudy here.

CaptHenway · December 21, 2020 4:26PM

Look to the skies!

Walkerguy21D · December 21, 2020 4:26PM

Crystal clear here in Florida, we just viewed them, beautiful!

oldUScoins · December 21, 2020 4:40PM

Best my iPhone could do:

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 4:47PM

@oldUScoins said:
Best my iPhone could do:

Yea this was the best I could do with my DSLR attached to my spotting scope.

pointfivezero · December 21, 2020 4:47PM

Neighbor posted this on Nextdoor last night:

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 4:50PM

@pointfivezero said:
Neighbor posted this on Nextdoor last night:

That's a cool shot. I was able to see that good thru my spotting scope but when I attached my DSLR to it, I just wasn't able to focus. I'm gonna get a variable adapter for my scope so I can add an eyepiece to it for better pics.

CoinJunkie · December 21, 2020 4:51PM

I bought this commem earlier this year, and really love the design. It looks even better in hand:

JaLP · December 21, 2020 4:56PM

Not bad @bsshog40
The rings make Saturn look oval and you can see 4 moons of Jupiter too (extending away towards 10:30 or so)!

WillieBoyd2 · December 21, 2020 5:17PM

Last night:

Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

Shah Jahan of India called himself the "Lord of the Auspicious Conjunction".

airplanenut · December 21, 2020 5:34PM

Overcast and about as rainy as it gets here in Seattle. I'll have to see it next time.

SkyMan · December 21, 2020 5:50PM

The sun has just about set here in CA., but in classic Murphy's law fashion it's been clouding up where I live.

BTW, I may be wrong, but my understanding is that it is not 600 years since this last occurred. The last time this occurred was in the 1600's, but it occurred during daytime so people could not see it. The last time it occurred during night time was in the 1200's, so roughly 800 years ago. Interesting to think that the last time this was visible in the night time we did not have telescopes. In the 1600's we had telescopes, Galileo died in 1642, but you might have been excommunicated (or worse) if you had looked at it the night before or after the conjunction and publicized it.

@bsshog40 Nice picture of the Moon, and an even better one of the conjunction!!!

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 5:55PM

@SkyMan said:
The sun has just about set here in CA., but in classic Murphy's law fashion it's been clouding up where I live.

BTW, I may be wrong, but my understanding is that it is not 600 years since this last occurred. The last time this occurred was in the 1600's, but it occurred during daytime so people could not see it. The last time it occurred during night time was in the 1200's, so roughly 800 years ago. Interesting to think that the last time this was visible in the night time we did not have telescopes. In the 1600's we had telescopes, Galileo died in 1642, but you might have been excommunicated (or worse) if you had looked at it the night before or after the conjunction and publicized it.

@bsshog40 Nice picture of the Moon, and an even better one of the conjunction!!!

I had heard that it was the 1200's and then the news says 600 yrs. I know you are an avid collector of space memorabilia Sy and I take your dates over the news any day. Lol Thanks for the info my friend!
I will add that they say it will happen again in 2080. Hopefully I'll have better equipment by that time. I'll only be 121 yrs old. Lol

jmlanzaf · December 21, 2020 6:54PM

as long as they don't get close to Uranus, you should be fine.

CoinJunkie · December 21, 2020 6:58PM

It was only a matter of time. Who had @jmlanzaf in the pool?

element159 · December 21, 2020 6:58PM

@pointfivezero said:
Neighbor posted this on Nextdoor last night:

Nice shot, but I wonder why I do not see any of Jupiter's moons? I think I saw one or two of them, though binoculars, in about the position in bsshog40's photo suggest. I could not hold my hands steady enough to tell if I could see multiple moons though. Today, I think Saturn was probably about as close as the farthest moon from Jupiter!

THAT is a close conjunction!

jesbroken · December 21, 2020 7:03PM

@logger7 A local astronomical society I've been a member of has some good information: https://www.was-ct.org/ They had David Pogue give a talk there as well as other university based professors.

Thanks l7, very interesting and quite the visual.
Jim

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 7:04PM

@element159 said:

@pointfivezero said:
Neighbor posted this on Nextdoor last night:

Nice shot, but I wonder why I do not see any of Jupiter's moons? I think I saw one or two of them, though binoculars, in about the position in bsshog40's photo suggest. I could not hold my hands steady enough to tell if I could see multiple moons though. Today, I think Saturn was probably about as close as the farthest moon from Jupiter!

THAT is a close conjunction!

That is odd, that as clear as your picture is, the moons aren't showing up. I could see the moons with just my scope just fine but I'm also thinking what looks like moons in my pic is just small reflections. Not real sure as the screen on my camera is small and my eyes aren't the best. I just clicked the best shot I could get with it. Lol

Baley · December 21, 2020 7:05PM

Just now, San Diego with 6" reflector and cellphone to eyepiece, with eye there is clear Saturn ring separation and bands on Jupiter..

jmlanzaf · December 21, 2020 7:08PM

@CoinJunkie said:
It was only a matter of time. Who had @jmlanzaf in the pool?

LOL.

I have a colleague who is an astrophysicist. Her brother-in-law tells a Uranus joke EVERY TIME he sees her. And he giggles like a 5-year-old. I've been trained to never miss an opportunity.

Batman23 · December 21, 2020 7:08PM

Cloudy here as usual, I was hoping for a break in the clouds to get a looksee. A few neat photos posted here though.

PCGSPhoto · December 21, 2020 7:09PM

best I can do with only a 300mm lens

koynekwest · December 21, 2020 7:10PM

Cloudy and raining here in beautiful Northeastern Ohio so we're out of luck.

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 7:10PM

I really wished I would have gotten my 8" celestron out but man it's soo much trouble.

bsshog40 · December 21, 2020 7:11PM

@PCGSPhoto said:
best I can do with only a 300mm lens

That's a cool pic!

Desert Moon · December 21, 2020 7:17PM

Just back from viewing, we had a clear sky, J and S close, 4 moons of J lined up in its orbital plane, when viewed from the telescope of our friends. S was slowly drifting away from J as we watched for over an hour. Our view from the telescope was similar in orientation to the posted PCGS photo, but abit clearer bc of the mag.

Best, SH

CoinJunkie · December 21, 2020 7:26PM

My wife and I just observed it through some (middling) binoculars. Not a ton of detail, but a cool visual nonetheless. It makes me wish I still had access to the Infrared Spatial Interferometer on Mt. Wilson, where I was a programmer many, many years ago. While primarily used for infrared research, it was capable of providing superb (optical) views of bodies in the solar system. Looking at the moon was always a treat there.

ɹoʇɔǝlloɔ · December 21, 2020 9:28PM

@bsshog40 said:

@element159 said:

@pointfivezero said:
Neighbor posted this on Nextdoor last night:

Nice shot, but I wonder why I do not see any of Jupiter's moons? I think I saw one or two of them, though binoculars, in about the position in bsshog40's photo suggest. I could not hold my hands steady enough to tell if I could see multiple moons though. Today, I think Saturn was probably about as close as the farthest moon from Jupiter!

THAT is a close conjunction!

That is odd, that as clear as your picture is, the moons aren't showing up. I could see the moons with just my scope just fine but I'm also thinking what looks like moons in my pic is just small reflections. Not real sure as the screen on my camera is small and my eyes aren't the best. I just clicked the best shot I could get with it. Lol

a couple of them are there in the pixel data, but the exposure is such that they didn't resolve [appreciate the exposure in the original as it helps reveal the swirls on Jupiter and Saturn's rings]; overly sharpened photo to reveal the 2 dim moons' locations:

BryceM · December 21, 2020 9:47PM

We got a peek through a little hole in the clouds for about 5 minutes. It was long enough to get the scope set up and for everyone to get a quick look. We had a nice view of the rings and the Galilean moons.

Pnies20 · December 21, 2020 10:05PM

Craziest thing. 3 guys on camels just went down my road

SanctionII · December 21, 2020 10:57PM

Comments in this thread reminded me of the joke about what Captain Kirk and toilet paper have in common. Something about them keeping Klingons off of ............., well,......, you know.

Great photos of Jupiter, its moons and Saturn in conjunction.

coastaljerseyguy · December 22, 2020 6:18AM

If you missed it, don't worry, the US Mint will make a new commemorative with about half a dozen variations.

ricko · December 22, 2020 6:35AM

I went out late last night with the dogs, but total cloud cover here....Oh well, the pictures here will suffice. Great pictures for sure... Cheers, RickO