ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — These next couple of evenings watch for the waxing moon to sweep by Jupiter and Saturn. Thursday night, they are forming a beautiful triangle in the south to southwest sky.
Jupiter, which is the brighter of the two planets, shines some 13 times brighter than Saturn and brighter than all the stars. The only star to outshine Jupiter in the evening sky is Mars, which you’ll find to the east of Jupiter and Saturn, low in the eastern sky.
Saturn and Jupiter are gearing up for their great conjunction before this year ends. It’ll be the closest Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in 397 years!
In astronomy, a conjunction occurs when any two astronomical objects (such as asteroids, moons, planets, and stars) appear to be close together in the sky, as observed from Earth.
The extra-close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction in 2020 won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of March 15, 2080.
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