THE BIG SKY

摘要

A magnificently rare celestial event lines up to see 2020 out with a 'WOW!' - something we could perhaps all do with after this year's turbulent waters. On the evening of 21 December find a spot with a clear horizon to your south-west. As darkness falls at about 4:30pm / 5pm look low in the sky near the freshly set sun and you'll see what appears to be a very bright misshapen star, almost elongated into a short stubby line. This is in fact not a star at all, or even one planet - but the combined light from two planets (Jupiter & Saturn) almost sat on top of each other! Incredibly, what you'll be witnessing, is the closest conjunction of these two gas giants since 1623, a mere 14 years after the invention of the telescope! Binoculars will show the close pairing well, bright Jupiter sat to the lower left and the dimmer yellow hue of Saturn to the upper right. A small telescope with a wide angle eyepiece surely delivers a quite memorable vista. Both planets in all their glory, moons in attendance, gathered in the same stupendous field of view is possibly an image you'll never forget.