Once-in-a-lifetime show

Jupiter, Saturn appear next to each other in rare event

New Yorkers looking to the heavens this month will truly have a once-in-a-lifetime view.

Jupiter and Saturn will appear to move toward each other every evening, culminating on Monday with the great conjunction. That night, the two largest planets in the solar system will appear closer from the perspective of the Earth than at any time since 1623.

“It will be strikingly obvious something is different in the sky,” said American Museum of Natural History astronomer Dr. Jackie Faherty.

“They’ve never been this close to each other on the sky in anyone who is currently alive’s lifetime. That’s why you should go out and look at them – you’re not going to get this opportunity to see them this close to each other again.”

Jupiter and Saturn will only appear to merge from the perspective of earthlings. The planets are actually about 400 million miles apart.

It will be hard to miss the planetary event, even for city dwellers. Jupiter is one of the brightest objects in the night sky. On the day of the great conjunction, Jupiter and Saturn will appear to be separated by only one-fifth the diameter of the full moon.

“You’re not going to miss them. They’re friggin’ beacons of light out there,” Faherty (photo) said.

Faherty suggested looking west about 45 minutes after sunset. If you have a telescope, now’s the time to use it.

Brian Berg, president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York, urged novice stargazers to visit the group’s website, which will hold events tied to the great conjunction. People will be able to view the event online through the association’s telescopes.

“Certainly people this year are lookingking for something to lift their spirits. It really has a lot of people excited,” Berg said.

“The bottom line is one of the most exciting things to see through the telescope is Saturn ... It really makes people pause and think about what’s out there and what we’re all part of in this universe.”

Faherty also suggested downloading the free Open Space Project, which visualizes the entire known universe. The software is funded in part by NASA.

But don’t just look up on Monday, which also happens to be the winter solstice. Faherty eencouraged stargazers to check out the night sky right away. Each evening will showcase the historic orbits of Jupiter and Saturn.

“You don’t want to jump in at the finale. Watch it as it happens,” Faherty said.

“You’re seeing them close in on each other.”

There’s also, of course, no guarantee that Monday will be cloud-free.

Conjunctions between Jupiter and Saturn occur every 20 years, but this will be the closest the planets have appeared in nearly four centuries. Around the time of the last great conjunction of this magnitude, 1623, German astronomer Johannes Kepler refined the heliocentric model, paving the way for modern understanding of the solar system.

Galileo, the father of modern science, first observed the rings of Saturn in 1610.

“This is how great steps get made in astronomy – moments like this,” Faherty said.

“It’s a really pretty show in the sky.”