'Great Conjunction' of Jupiter and Saturn

[JoeWras]

The experts don't believe a star was seen by any wise men.
As heavenly bodies converge, many ask: Is the Star of Bethlehem making a comeback?

That article argues a different point about "star" having a meta meaning.

But if it was something in the sky, then a "star" could be just about anything from a meteor, to a comet, to a conjunction, to a supernova. Probably not an eclipse, though.

 

[Koolau]

Whatever it was must have been pretty spectacular to entice (perhaps) the best "scientists" of the day to travel to a fairly distant land/culture to look for a corresponding event. Past such events would probably have been well catalogued and described (drawn). THIS event was apparently something else. I can't imagine it was a "simple" (even if very close) conjunction of well-known planets. I have no insight, so I'm spit-balling here (yeah, I know, "as usual, Ko'olau").

One of my fantasies about heaven would be to sit with the ancients and be told all the mysteries of the universe - one at a time! YMMV

 

[homestead]

Sounds like the star of Bethlehem was moving.

Matthew 2:9-11: After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.

 

[target2019]

We were able to view tonight in NJ. It is lower each evening of course, and was visible between tall trees. Mars is also out there a bit west of the Moon.

 

[Midpack]

We struck out last night, but got to see it just now. Found a remote parking lot on a hill, and once the sky was dark enough, there it was. Binoculars helped but we could see both planets with the naked eye by 6pm EST. Not as low on horizon as I was guessing. Fun!

 

[braumeister]

Nice clear evening here. By fortunate coincidence the planets were in the only direction we have a clear view from the house, so it couldn't have been more perfect.

My 30 year old Astroscan came through beautifully. Saturn's rings were clear and I've never seen Jupiter's moons so well. DW was delighted, since it was her first time seeing both planets.

I can just imagine what you folks with real telescopes must have seen. Certainly a great experience!

 

[RunningBum]

Had a great view tonight. This is what I have:
http://www.chinesebinoculars.com/pr...0-mm-giant-binoculars/25-40x100-standard.html

I could see Jupiter and 4 of it's moons, and Saturn with its rings. I think I may have seen Pluto a bit low and away from Saturn, but I'm not certain that's what it was.

I had to go to an overlook on the mountain since trees blocked the view from my house. I stayed out about 1.5 hours and probably had close to 50 people looking through my setup. A few kids too, so I had to adjust the tripod, but it was totally worth it when they saw it. Same with a lot of the adults.

Only problem I had is that since I had to take it off the tripod to transport, I couldn't figure out how to lock it in position, so it was easy for someone to bump it off view, even though everyone was trying to be careful.

 

[timo2]

Had a great view tonight. This is what I have:
http://www.chinesebinoculars.com/pr...0-mm-giant-binoculars/25-40x100-standard.html

Those look great. They did remind me of the ones Kim Jong Un famously uses, but now I want one.

 

[braumeister]

Those look great. They did remind me of the ones Kim Jong Un famously uses, but now I want one.

Sometimes he stoops to using ordinary glasses.

 

[Ronstar]

Had a tough time getting photos due to high winds. Couldn't keep the camera steady for a 1"-3" exposure even on a tripod. Jupiter on the left with 4 moons, Saturn on the right. 600mm and heavily cropped.

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

Cloudy every damn night!

 

[stepford]

I think I may have seen Pluto a bit low and away from Saturn, but I'm not certain that's what it was.

If you saw Pluto I'm VERY impressed. I read Clyde Tombaugh's biography when I was in grade school and remember being mightily impressed by all the work it took to discover Pluto.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

I think I may have seen Pluto a bit low and away from Saturn, but I'm not certain that's what it was.

Pluto is way beyond the reach of those binoculars. I’ve seen it in a 10” telescope but it was near the limit and required a detailed chart to pick it out from the background stars. In the olden days before computers and charts that go down to 15th magnitude (when the Hubble Guide Star Catalog was published) the only way to pick out Pluto was to sketch the suspected area, do it again a week later, then look for the dot that had moved.

Checking my Sky Safari app I noticed a 7th magnitude star in the location you described.

Keep looking up! It’s addicting.

 

[gerntz]

Saw it the last two evenings. Interesting that they were about 5x further apart last night.

 

[mystang52]

I could see Jupiter and 4 of it's moons, and Saturn with its rings. I think I may have seen Pluto a bit low and away from Saturn, but I'm not certain that's what it was.

About a month ago on a crystal clear night I took out my telescope and looked at Jupiter and Saturn. Had great view of Jupiter and I was just about able to discern its cloud bands, and saw all 4 Galilean moons. Bonus was that for the first time in my life I could just see Titan. Instead of Pluto (highly doubtful) maybe you saw Titan.

 

[RunningBum]

About a month ago on a crystal clear night I took out my telescope and looked at Jupiter and Saturn. Had great view of Jupiter and I was just about able to discern its cloud bands, and saw all 4 Galilean moons. Bonus was that for the first time in my life I could just see Titan. Instead of Pluto (highly doubtful) maybe you saw Titan.

It looked too far from Saturn to be a moon. Using my Sky Map app it looked like it might be where Pluto would be, but what I'm reading today matches what many of you are saying, that it's really doubtful I could see Pluto. I don't star gaze enough to have a good sense of what I'm seeing.

 

[Koolau]

Another fantastic view off the lanai tonight. I could see a significant movement between the two planets from last night using 10 power binoculars. We don't usually get two nights in a row with this good viewing. YMMV