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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Great Conjunction over Sicilian Lighthouse
APOD.NASA.gov ^ | 8 Dec, 2020 | Image Credit & Copyright: Kevin Saragozza

Posted on 12/08/2020 3:22:12 PM PST by MtnClimber

Explanation: Don’t miss the coming great conjunction. In just under two weeks, the two largest planets in our Solar System will angularly pass so close together in Earth's sky that the Moon would easily be able to cover them both simultaneously. This pending planetary passage -- on December 21 -- will be the closest since 1623. Jupiter and Saturn will remain noticeably bright and can already be seen together toward the southwest just after sunset. Soon after dusk is the best time to see them -- because they set below the horizon soon after. In mid-November, the Jovian giants were imaged together here about three degrees apart -- and slowly closing. The featured image, including a crescent moon, captured the dynamic duo beyond the Cape Murro di Porco Lighthouse in Syracuse, Sicily, Italy.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: nasa
To be added or removed from the Astronomy Picture of the Day ping list please send me a request via "Private Reply" (Mail).

For more detail go to the link and click on the image for a high definition image. You can then zoom by moving the magnifying glass over an area and then clicking. The side bars will move the zoomed area over the photograph.

1 posted on 12/08/2020 3:22:12 PM PST by MtnClimber
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To: MtnClimber

2 posted on 12/08/2020 3:24:09 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber
Jupiter and Saturn in October.


3 posted on 12/08/2020 3:24:39 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: 21stCenturion; 21twelve; 4everontheRight; abb; AFB-XYZ; America_Right; Art in Idaho; AZ .44 MAG; ...
Pinging the APOD list.

🪐 🌟 🌌

I hope everyone can see the photos OK. The downloads are really slow for me tonight.

4 posted on 12/08/2020 3:26:27 PM PST by MtnClimber (For photos of Colorado scenery and wildlife, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
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To: MtnClimber; All
Great photo!

Notice to the right is the plane of the Milky Way galaxy plunging vertically into the horizon. The galactic center is about where the MW meets the horizon in this shot. There, in the constellation Sagittarius, some 23,000 light years distant, lies a supermassive black hole 2-3 million times the mass of the sun.


5 posted on 12/08/2020 3:40:19 PM PST by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion!! Click ETL...)
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To: MtnClimber

Beautiful photos
Thank you


6 posted on 12/08/2020 3:40:32 PM PST by Rocko Jack
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To: MtnClimber; All
Ignore the date at the lower left of this graphic that I posted above. Didn't notice it when I found this image via an images search for the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction. Otherwise, it's basically the situation now, only they are even closer here now in Dec.


7 posted on 12/08/2020 3:47:24 PM PST by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion!! Click ETL...)
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To: All; MtnClimber
December 21, 2020


Jupiter and Saturn will form rare
On December 21, [2020] Jupiter and Saturn will get so close in the sky that they will almost appear to merge with one another. Such a conjunction has not occurred in December for some 800 years.

Source: Astronomy Magazine
https://astronomy.com/news/2020/12/jupiter-and-saturn-will-form-rare-christmas-star-on-winter-solstice

8 posted on 12/08/2020 4:12:33 PM PST by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion!! Click ETL...)
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To: MtnClimber

MtnClimber:

Its coming through just fine!

Thanks for posting.


9 posted on 12/08/2020 5:26:26 PM PST by Pete from Shawnee Mission ( )
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To: ETL

Corona Australis?

Everybody knows Corona comes from Mexico!................


10 posted on 12/09/2020 5:18:44 AM PST by Red Badger ( “The goal of socialism is communism.”... Vladimir Lenin)
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To: MtnClimber

A Sicilian lighthouse? Hope it doesn’t blow a circuit breaker.

Because it will make a deal you can’t re-fuse?..............


11 posted on 12/09/2020 5:19:58 AM PST by Red Badger ( “The goal of socialism is communism.”... Vladimir Lenin)
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To: MtnClimber
Great Conjunction

Throughout ancient history, events in the heavens were interpreted by ancients as forecasting important events that would be seen on Earth.

In this case, superstitious fools like Kalifornia's Newsome, NY's Cuomo, Pennsylvania's Wolf will see the great conjunction as forecasting 6 more months of CORONA virus lockdowns.

They won't let a unique astronomical event go to waste.

12 posted on 12/09/2020 7:13:25 AM PST by politicianslie (I took HCQ+Zn on the 3rd day of symptoms. HCQ+Zn is a grand slam home run CURE!)
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To: Red Badger

That graphic also says in the lower left, June 15th.
It was just something I found while looking for photos of the Jup-Sat conjunction. Not sure I ever heard of “Corona Australis” before now. Didn’t even notice it on the image.


13 posted on 12/09/2020 8:42:13 AM PST by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion!! Click ETL...)
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To: ETL

“Corona Australis” - Southern Crown:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corona_Australis


14 posted on 12/09/2020 8:44:16 AM PST by Red Badger ( “The goal of socialism is communism.”... Vladimir Lenin)
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To: ETL

...one hour before sunrise...

I can’t stay up that late, OR get up that early!


15 posted on 12/09/2020 9:21:47 AM PST by JimRed (TERM LIMITS, NOW! Build the Wall Faster! TRUTH is the new HATE SPEECH.)
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To: JimRed
...one hour before sunrise... I can’t stay up that late, OR get up that early!

Ignore that graphic. It apparently was a view from just SOUTH of the equator. For the northern hemisphere it is an evening event.

16 posted on 12/09/2020 9:30:22 AM PST by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion!! Click ETL...)
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To: JimRed

It’s also dated June.

However, the image is still basically valid for the general relationship between the two planets and the constellation they are in, which is Sagittarius.


17 posted on 12/09/2020 9:33:37 AM PST by ETL (REAL Russia collusion! DEMOCRAT-Russia collusion!! Click ETL...)
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