1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 1: brain Stuff Lauren Bogelbaum here. Despite this most recent orbit 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: being dominated by earthly struggles, has been an incredible year 4 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:20,960 Speaker 1: for astronomy. Whether it's SpaceX making headlines by launching Starlink 5 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: satellites to provide WiFi for the world, or sending astronauts 6 00:00:24,680 --> 00:00:28,800 Speaker 1: to the International Space Station twice, or the unexpected delight 7 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,760 Speaker 1: of watching Comet Neo wise journey across the sky. There 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:36,240 Speaker 1: have been some inspiring reasons to keep gazing up all 9 00:00:36,320 --> 00:00:40,840 Speaker 1: year long. Before the ball drops and we reset our calendars, 10 00:00:41,040 --> 00:00:44,960 Speaker 1: there's one more spectacular astronomical experience to mark on your calendar, 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,720 Speaker 1: the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on December one. 12 00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: This celestial event is a once in a lifetime opportunity 13 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:55,480 Speaker 1: to see the gas giants of our Solar system appears 14 00:00:55,520 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: so close together in the sky that they'll appear to touch. 15 00:00:59,120 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: They won't, in act, and will actually be four hundred 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,800 Speaker 1: million miles apart. It's all a matter of perspective based 17 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,839 Speaker 1: on their orbits Jupiter, which orbits the Sun every eleven 18 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: point nine years, and Saturn, which orbits once every twenty 19 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:16,160 Speaker 1: nine point five years, and the two planets appear close 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: together roughly every nineteen point six years, but when they do, 21 00:01:20,640 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: it's called a great conjunction, and the last one occurred 22 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:25,600 Speaker 1: in the dawn hours of May twenty eight, in the 23 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 1: year two thousand. This year's great conjunction is particularly special 24 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 1: as it's the closest these two planets will appear in 25 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: the sky since March fourth of twelve, twenty six, and 26 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: so it's been nearly eight hundred years since Jupiter and 27 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,400 Speaker 1: Saturn have appeared this close together due to the two 28 00:01:42,400 --> 00:01:46,479 Speaker 1: planets orbits as well as our earthly one. Although there 29 00:01:46,680 --> 00:01:49,720 Speaker 1: was a close Jupiter Satder conjunction in sixteen twenty three, 30 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:51,680 Speaker 1: it was too near to the Sun to be seen 31 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:55,320 Speaker 1: without a telescope and so was likely not observed by many, 32 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,840 Speaker 1: the telescope being a new object at the time. This year, 33 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:03,400 Speaker 1: the planets will appear very close, less than one fifth 34 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:06,559 Speaker 1: the diameter of a full moon, or roughly zero point 35 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:10,520 Speaker 1: one degrees apart in the sky. Astronomers use degrees as 36 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:13,680 Speaker 1: the largest unit of distance between objects in the sky. 37 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: Most times, when two planets appear close together, there within 38 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,200 Speaker 1: two to four degrees of one another. To get a 39 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:22,600 Speaker 1: sense of how close Jupiter and Saturn will be in 40 00:02:22,600 --> 00:02:25,200 Speaker 1: the night sky on the twenty one. Hold your arms 41 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: straight out and make a fist, then stick up your 42 00:02:28,160 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: pinkie finger at arm's length. The diameter of your pinkie 43 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: finger is roughly equivalent to one degree of distance in 44 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,760 Speaker 1: the sky. Jupiter and Saturn will appear one tenth of 45 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: the diameter of your pinky apart. With Saturn and Jupiter 46 00:02:43,200 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 1: being so close together, they may look like a double planet. 47 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:48,280 Speaker 1: If you have a telescope, you should be able to 48 00:02:48,320 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 1: see both planets and their larger moons in the same 49 00:02:51,200 --> 00:02:54,160 Speaker 1: field of view, but they'll be fairly clear even through 50 00:02:54,200 --> 00:02:59,040 Speaker 1: binoculars and visible to the naked eye. The Great Conjunction 51 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:01,799 Speaker 1: will be visible across Earth, though the timing will depend 52 00:03:01,800 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: on your location and latitude. The best viewing prospects are 53 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: near the equator, though those in the northern hemisphere will 54 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: have a shorter viewing window before the planet's set beyond 55 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,360 Speaker 1: the horizon. For American viewers, the best time to observe 56 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,359 Speaker 1: this maybe twilight. You can look for them anywhere from 57 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: December seventeen th December, though the closest approach is December one. 58 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: And even though we had a very long wait to 59 00:03:27,040 --> 00:03:29,600 Speaker 1: see this event, it's going to happen again on March 60 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:39,840 Speaker 1: fift a relatively short sixty years from now. Today's episode 61 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: was written by Valerie Stymach and produced by Tyler Clay. 62 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:44,720 Speaker 1: For more and less amounts of other topics, visit hous 63 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: to forks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of I 64 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: heart Radio. Or more podcasts my heart Radio visit the 65 00:03:49,880 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 66 00:03:52,640 --> 00:03:53,480 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.