Join us for the great conjunction tonight, Friday, December 18 on solstice day, December 21 right after sunset (4:37pm). You can join the live astro video session via Zoom produced by the AAAP astro-video group. If conditions are favorable we will stream from the club’s Washington Crossing Observatory with the Celestron-14 as well as with additional member telescopes. Weather permitting, we will begin shortly after sunset at 4:37pm as soon as the skies are dark enough to use the imaging cameras. It will be tricky because of the low position in the southwestern sky, only 17 degrees above the horizon at 5:00pm. A conjunction occurs when two planets reach their minimal angular separation in our skies. This one will be remarkable because the Jovian planets will be only ~0.1 degrees apart, close enough to fit within the field of view of the telescope/camera setup. Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn happen every ~20 years but this one will be the tightest since 1623!
The link below will take you to Zoom meeting information posted on the website. Friends and family are welcome to join the session (if we hit our limit you may need to wait). If weather dictates, the date may shift a couple days either way – stay tuned to the website announcement.
Amateur Astronomers Association of Princeton 