Google Doodle celebrates ‘The Great Conjunction’ of Jupiter and Saturn
Google doodle celebrated Winter 2020 and The Great Conjunction with an animated graphic on December 21.
The Great Conjunction, a visual overlap of Saturn and Jupiter in the night sky, is a rare phenomenon that the world will witness today.
According to Google, these two are the biggest planets of all that can be viewed in the sky from “anywhere around the globe”.
Today (21 December) also marks the longest night of the year.
Google says that the simultaneous sighting of the two planets has not been seen for almost 800 years.
Further the company explained that today, Jupiter and Saturn will cross within 0.1 degrees of each other.
The two planets will remain almost 450 million miles apart.
The conjunction in 2020 won’t be matched again until the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction of 15 March 2080.
You want to see the Great Conjunction?
Google Doodle said, “Find a spot with an unobstructed view of the sky, such as a field or park. An hour after sunset, Jupiter will look like a bright star and be easily visible in the southwestern sky. Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear slightly above and to the left of Jupiter until December 21, when Jupiter will overtake it and they will reverse positions in the sky.
“Feel free to use binoculars, but the planets can still be seen with the unaided eye.”