Great Conjunction Over Pedernal
The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn’s planets in twilight over Cerro Pedernal, New Mexico.
Great Conjunction Over Pedernal
The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn’s planets in twilight over Cerro Pedernal, New Mexico.
December 21, 2020, was a special day when it comes to the planets and the sun. It was the winter solstice on the same day as a “Great Conjunction.”
It was an astronomical coincidence that the 2020 Great Conjunction occurred on the same day as the Winter Solstice.
During a Great Conjunction, the angle between Jupiter and Saturn as seen from Earth usual range between [0.5 deg, 1.3 deg]. The 2020 Great Conjunction was the smallest visible separation angle, with a separation of 0.10 degrees, since the year 1226 in the Middle Ages!
Winter Solstice Sunset
December 21, 2020, 4:54 PM local time, Cerro Pedernal, New Mexico
“Christmas Star on Pedernal”
December 21, 2020, 7:11 PM local time, Cerro Pedernal, New Mexico
Although Jupiter and Saturn appeared close to each other during the Great Conjunction, I could still see a definite separation of the two planets, even with the naked eye. This was predicted.
The tilt of the Earth’s axis results in solstices, equinoxes, and seasons.
Composite photograph of the Moon and the Great Conjunction I took on December 22, 2020. This composite photo (not a real scene that one would actually see!) is helpful to see the angular size of the conjunction. Jupiter and its moons are on the left, Saturn on the right.
Scientists have researched whether or not the Star of Bethlehem was actually a Great Conjunction. Conjunctions of Jupiter with the bright star Regulus in the years 2 BC and 3 BC have been investigated in the context of the Gospel of Matthew and the Star of Bethlehem.
Looking through the mosquito netting on my backpacking tent in the night sky, I notice that bright stars have a “cross” appearance to them. The screen causes the star’s light to diffract (bend) around the screen’s material and causes diffraction spikes. You can also see diffraction spikes when looking at stars with your naked eye and squinting — the result of diffraction due to your eyelashes.
It is perfectly reasonable that historic viewers of the Great Conjunction saw diffraction spikes. Historical renditions of Star of Bethlehem depict the conjunction with what looks like diffraction spikes.
To demonstrate this effect, I include a photograph I took with a Bahtinov Mask which creates diffraction spikes to help photographers manually focus on distant stars.
Image of Jupiter (left) and Saturn (right) on December 22, 2020, barely shows The Rings of Saturn. To see Saturn’s rings, I had to limit the amount of light reaching the sensor, using a faster shutter speed (1/60 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000, 1344 mm lens). At this lower exposure, the moons of Jupiter are not visible.
Photo of the Great Conjunction looking through a Bahtinov Mask to demonstrate an extreme diffraction star effect.
Independent of all this science talk about conjunctions, diffraction spikes, and solstices, I want to wish all my followers a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season.
We are all looking forward to a brighter and healthier year ahead. Even in the hardest of times, our shared respect for nature and its wonders provides comfort and hope.
Santa Fe Peace Tree
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Thank you, Ed. A down-to-earth explanation of the phenom. With the best possible imagery, of course!
Happy Holidays, David. Thank you for reading the article and your kind compliments. I am looking forward to the days ahead when we can photograph together. Savoring all the local photography now until traveling is safer.
I think I know that tree. Thank you for this post – nice photos and writeup of planetary motions!
Thank you, Dave. I am glad you enjoyed the article. This afternoon I hiked the Nambe trails and it was like a crowded day in Yosemite… 🙁