@stargazer

You’re very welcome, Stargazer.  I think the Rosette Nebula, which is nearby in the same constellation, is beautiful, too.  And yes, it resembles a rose:

http://www.atlasoftheuniverse.com/nebulae/ngc2237.html

Thanks for that beautiful photo, Narnian78!

Posted by: @stargazer

Hopefully people will be able to enjoy the conjunction for what it is, rather than what it's being hyped up to be.

Hear-hear!

Sounds like you had a lovely early morning viewing, stargazer. But that rooster ...  

I had such an adventurous walk this evening shortly after the sun set. For one thing, the colours in the sky were gorgeous (dim yellows, vibrant pinks, deep grey-blues), then a funnel-shaped cloud (horizontal, not vertical ) grew to a massive size in the south—so very cool! As I was looking for Cygnus (which I found quite easily, hip-hip-hooray!), I noticed a dim satellite moving quick fast across the sky ... followed by many more! Sure enough, I was again spotting the SpaceX satellites, always quite the sight. Then once dark fell, I noticed a bright light moving from NW to SE. Sure enough, it was the ISS. The magnitude was just a tad brighter than Jupiter. I viewed it for a good five minutes across the breadth of the sky before it sank in the SE. Then the funnel cloud moved further southward, opening up the sky for Saturn and Jupiter, which are definitely getting closer. Very pretty.

I really hope are skies are somewhat clear for the Geminids on the 13-14th — https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-news/banner-year-geminid-meteor-shower/. The forecast is not looking good now, but that could change. Also, in anticipation of December 21 for the giant planet conjunction, the clouds better vamoose that evening!  

@jo

You’re very welcome johobbit. I’m glad you found Cygnus, and since you were easily able to see it your skies must not have very much light pollution, which is very fortunate. Happy stargazing! 🙂

That is correct, Narnian78, we live in a more rural area.

On my walk this morning, I saw another ISS pass, albeit not as bright as last night's. I then spotted three meteors—a pre-show to the Geminids this weekend: one was short and dim-ish; the second was long and bright; the third was longer and medium bright. Lovely!

Orion was sinking on its side into the west. It's like this mighty constellation was climbing into bed. The just less than half Moon was still so bright that their were Moon shadows everywhere. Beautiful!

Venus was just above the horizon when I began my walk and seeing it rise higher in its brilliancy is always a treat.

Those morning observations sounds lovely, Jo! It's been cloudy and foggy several days (and nights) here, and I'm looking forward to seeing some stars again one of these days - and maybe even some Geminids.

The earliest sunset of the year occurs today in mid-northern latitude (4.31 pm at my location). The exact date and time depends on your latitude and your location in your time zone. But in any event, evening observing right now is as convenient as it can be (especially with the unusually warm temperatures we're having here right now - it could get to 48F/9C tomorrow).

Persistent clouds prevented our view of the Geminids. Hopefully they will clear out for the planetary conjunction next week. Note also that the Moon will pass Jupiter and Saturn December 16.

Sky and Telescope has an excellent article about the conjunction. It has a lot of useful information and diagrams and hopefully will be a helpful counterpoint to all the internet hype.

Good stuff, @stargazer! (I was just coming on to link the same S & T article. )  Agreed re your online hype comment.

Here, too, overcast skies dominate, so, aside from the three Geminids I saw about a week ago, any visibility has since been disappointing, 'though common here for December.

Sadly, the long-range forecast is also for very cloudy skies (except for this Friday), but I'm still hoping that will change for the 21st! On Friday, however, I will be out there viewing, to be sure.

Thanks for posting that Sky & Telescope article, @stargazer! It was very helpful. My sister and I just went and scouted a site to see if we could see the conjunction. It was a success, so we'll try to go back Monday.

Good luck to all our conjunction watchers!

I haven't seen Jupiter near Saturn since last Monday due to persistent clouds, and tomorrow evening's forecasts are inconsistent regarding how clear the sky might be. Here's hoping!

@stargazer

I saw the conjunction tonight (the night before) in binoculars, although the sky was partly cloudy. Tonight after sunset there will be completely cloudy skies here in western Michigan, according to the forecast. I’ll be watching the YouTube channel of the McDonald Observatory around 7:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time. I was very pleased with their coverage when watching an eclipse a couple of years ago.

Here is the link for those who wish to view the channel:

https://youtube.com/user/mcdonaldobservatory

I hope you and your sister can see the conjunction, @valiantarcher! Good for you for already scouting out a location.  

I hope the skies lean towards clear so that you can view this sight, @stargazer. Here, clouds are dominating (I could ), so thank you, @narnian78, for that link to the McDonald Observatory. That may be the way we will be watching. I'm glad you saw the conjunction last evening. Our skies here have not been clear for about a week now, so it has been awhile since I have seen the two giant planets. All through the Autumn, though, on my evening walks, when many nights were clear, I was keeping a very close eye. So beautiful as they moved gradually closer together.

If it were clear here, our youngest son, whose telescope we are storing until he has more room for it, would have liked to have come up so we could all view the conjunction together. That would have been amazing!

@jo

You’re welcome, Johobbit.  I’ll be watching the conjunction on TV since I have YouTube TV.  But any computer or mobile device which has the channel will work. Happy holidays!  🙂

We missed this Great Conjunction of Saturn & Jupiter, due to the heavy rain we have had since Saturday, not that I am complaining. No doubt we will find it on Internet somewhere, & the rain is keeping astronomically high summer temperatures away.

Although this celestial event happens every 20 years or so, my daughter says it is the closest Saturn & Jupiter will be to each other since 1563 AD. What happened then, I wonder? In those days they believed in omens just like we see in Prince Caspian, where the Prince & Doctor Cornelius watched such a conjunction between Tarva & Alambil.

Apparently this particular Conjunction is a triple conjunction whatever that means. I did also see a mention of this Great Conjunction being called the Christmas Star because Christmas is three days away. 

We're full of clouds here as well, so I'm watching internet coverage (one site being the one @Narnian78 linked). Hopefully the skies will clear in the next few days so I can at least see them close together.

wagga, 1563 is significant because the planets were slightly farther apart than they are right now (this is the closest since then). 1226 is mentioned because they were even closer then.

A triple conjunction is something different, and this one is not one of those (Jupiter and Saturn had a triple conjunction back in 1981, and it was great fun watching it). The distinction is that while this is a one-time pass, a triple conjunction has the two planets passing each other three separate times, staying near each other in between. For example, the dates of conjunction in 1981 were January 1, March 6, and July 25, so they were close for months. Technically speaking, a triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn requires them to come to opposition to the sun (and be visible all night) within about two days of each other; this year that time was six days. The next triple conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn won't be until 2238-2239. Whew!

https://ibb.co/M26TZkm

My kids and I watching the conjunction tonight.