Did you see it?
Did you see the close conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn?
I've been watching the two planets get closer together for some time, and will continue to keep an eye on them as they separate. Naked eye night sky viewing is a favorite pastime of mine. A simple pair of binoculars, a monocular, or a small telescope can make it even more interesting. Even a simple pair of binoculars can bring four of the moons of Jupiter into view or show the shadows cast from the mountains and crater walls on the moon.
I have a small, inexpensive telescope that I bought about thirty years ago. It's a 50mm refractor and I think I only paid around $60 dollars for it way back then. It's pretty basic and not easy to do much real deep sky viewing, but I was able to see both planets in the same small field of vision, along with the rings of Saturn and the four visible moons of Jupiter. Maybe I'll upgrade to a fancy, programmable scope one of these days -- eh, probably not.
If you missed them last night, they'll still be relatively close together tonight and you should check them out. They'll start to separate as they move to pass behind the sun and become visible in the morning sky later in the winter. While you're at it, you may as well look straight up to see Mars. It's the bright, reddish looking light almost directly overhead in the early evening.
Do you know where to find your Sun sign? Mine, Gemini, currently rises in the east shortly after sunset. Of course, the dates of the Zodiac have shifted since the 3000 year old dates were recently updated to allow for the slight variance over the millennia and it appears that I was actually born under the sign of Taurus. It's a good thing I don't put any stock in astrology or I might be devastated to know that I'd been living my life by the wrong sign's influence these past six decades. (Apparently, this was/is a pretty big deal in some astrological circles.) Scientists have to keep reminding followers of the Zodiac that astronomers don't concern themselves with astrology and it isn't a conspiracy to undermine their religion. It's just science.
John
I've been meaning to pick up a lesser expensive (hobbyist) telescope but I've yet to get one. We bought one for Rachel about 20 years ago From BestBuy for around $100 but it turned out to be not good at all so I took it back. I'm at the stage in my life where I'd like to stop accumulating things, tho. I'll always have room for another bike. Seems I could make room for a decent telescope as well. Hmm...
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