[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

I now work graveyards shifts again. They have begun playing old Art Bell radio show episodes on a local a.m. station and calling it Art Bell, Somewhere in Time.

The other day they had a 1998 episode which talked about the conjuction of Jupiter and Saturn and its significance throughout history.

The fella talking to Bell, who’s name ai did not catch, mentioned that the year Christ was born was the only known/recorded time that this had occurred 4 times in one year.

I found that interesting.

I am hoping the skys clear up in my area starting around the 18th and going through the 23rd.

Apparent the 21st the conjuction will be so close (.06 of a degree) that the two planets will not be individually discernable with the naked eye.....an article I read said that .06 degrees is the equivalent of a toothpick at arms length.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Slightly more than 0.1 degree is more than 6 arcminutes. The resolution of the human eye is about 2 arcminutes. Because Jupiter is so much brighter than Saturn, they may be hard to resolve. Jupiter and Saturn at closest approach on December 21st will be about half the distance between the naked eye binary Alcor and Mizar in the handle of the Big Dipper. If you can easily resolve those two, you may be able to resolve Jupiter and Saturn.

Whatever you do, have fun!