It looks like Sackville might have a partially clear night this Saturday, December 19. If we are so lucky, we might get a clear enough view of the night sky to see a once-in-400-year phenomenon called the Great Conjunction.
Erica Butler called up Mount Allison professor and astronomer Catherine Lovekin to explain exactly what it was all about:
CATHERINE LOVEKIN:
So, a conjunction is just when two objects appear close together in the sky. This conjunction is between Jupiter and Saturn, which are two of the largest planets in the solar system. And so they’re pretty much the brightest planets. They’re easy to see. They’re very easily visible in the sky, even if you live somewhere with lots of light pollution.
This conjunction is particularly interesting, because it’s the closest they’ve come together in almost 400 years. The last time they were this close together in the sky was in 1623. And so it’s just a very pretty sight. They’re going to be very, very close. You will still be able to distinguish them, depending on conditions, but they’re going to be very, very close together.
I was out on Wednesday night, which was very clear, and it was really beautiful, because they were right above the new moon, and it was really, really nice to see.
ERICA BUTLER:
Do you have special spots that you like to go stargazing in and around Sackville and Tantramar?
CL:
Well, this was just from the end of my driveway. So it was not a particularly good spot. As long as you have a clear view. These are bright enough objects, you don’t need to be somewhere particularly dark. So as long as you have a clear view of the southwestern horizon, you’re going to be able to see these no problem.
I know for other things, I’ve gone to Fort Beausejour, if you can get out of town and go there, it’s very dark at night. Or even the field behind the middle school is usually pretty dark and not a bad spot for stargazing. And both of those have pretty clear views of the southern horizon at least.
EB:
They will be close together for a while. We’ll have some time to see them.
CL:
Yeah, absolutely. So right now they are about as close together as… [Wednesday] night, when I saw them, they were about as close together as the width of the moon, so about half a degree apart on the sky. So they’re going to get closer together over the next couple of nights. And then on Monday night, December 21st. They’re going to reach their closest approach, and then they’ll start to move away again, but they’re going to stay close together in that same part of the sky for you know, a couple of weeks at least.
EB:
So that’s also our darkest day of the year? December 21st.
CL:
The shortest? Yeah, the solstice.
EB:
Oh yeah, not the darkest day, I guess. That’s the wrong way to put it. The longest night.
So to really appreciate this, we should be going out a few times over the next little bit.
CL:
Yeah, if you can. Absolutely. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Mother Nature’s going to cooperate. We’ve got a fair bit of rain and snow and clouds in the forecast here in Sackville.
EB:
Right and we’re not allowed to drive into Nova Scotia. So there you go.
CL:
Yeah. But if you have the chance, it’s definitely worth a look.
EB:
Well, thanks so much. I appreciate you explaining what’s going on.
CL:
Not a problem. Good to be here.