Home»Portola Valley Ranch, Windy Hill, Etc.»12/15-22/2020 The Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

About every 20 years, Jupiter overtakes the slower Saturn in their dance around the Sun. From Earth, they appear close together in the sky. This year the "Great Conjunction" was special: the two planets appeared closer together than they have for 400 years. A "Great Great Conjunction"?

Along with many others, I was able to witness this event. Here are views of the planets over several days. My camera wandered about, taking in other images of these times. Bonus: the waxing Moon, queen of the night sky, growing ever brighter.

I was surprised to see that my camera could see the four Galilean moons of Jupiter, and even the rings of Saturn.

A pair of sequences, of the planets and of the moon, show the nightly changes for comparison. The other galleries are from one or several nights, and include wider views of our world here in Portola Valley.