[TriLUG] Off-Topic: The Great Conjunction of 2020

[Tom Eisenmenger via TriLUG]

Thanks, Joe. I'm looking forward to the event myself, although with my age
and health, being around strangers in this day and age simply isn't going
to happen. I need to find a good vantage point closeby, as there are
entirely too many trees around my house. Over the last month, I've found
that I can catch a glimpse if I go across the street into a neighbor's
driveway, but I'll want something a bit more open for the event. Let the
search begin!

On Thu, Dec 10, 2020 at 6:44 PM Joseph Mack NA3T via TriLUG <
trilug at trilug.org> wrote:

> Not FOSS, but news for nerds.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_conjunction
>
> On 21 Dec 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest since 1623, about
> 1/5th the diameter of the Moon apart.
>
> They're in the SW at sunset (to the left of the spot the sunsets). They'll
> be visible from about 5:15 to 7:15
>
> Jupiter (SkyFather) is the 2nd brightest planet (after Venus). Saturn is
> dimmer but easily visible.
>
> I've been waiting for this event for about 2 years and have been actively
> tracking them since the summer. The two are very close now and I'll be
> watching them nightly so that I'll get a good view as they close up and
> just in case it's bad weather on the night.
>
> I can see the pair from my driveway. In the last week or so, I'll be
> observing from a local high spot, that has a good view of the western
> horizon. Unfortunately in 10 days, Jupiter and Saturn will be in bright
> sky just above the setting Sun, so observing them will be a race between
> the sky getting dark enough to see them and them setting behind trees,
> cloud and murk. I'll be going out about sunset over the next week to
> get a good idea of where they'll be as the sky rotates each night.
>
> This isn't a telescopic event. It's just two pinpoints in the sky close
> together, that are normally apart. I will probably try a telescope in the
> nights before, but on the night I won't want to be standing next to
> people, to help them with the scope and I don't want everyone's finger
> prints on it. If you have binos they might be helpful. 10x50s are good at
> night, but I use regulars (7x35). Unfortunately these sort of events are
> normally done as a social event, with as big a crowd as you can muster,
> with as many scopes as you can find. It isn't going to work in the
> pandemic.
>
> Joe
>
> --
> Joseph Mack NA3T EME(B,D), FM05lw North Carolina
> jmack (at) trilug (dot) org - azimuthal equidistant
> map generator at http://www.wm7d.net/azproj.shtml
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>
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