Today, Google Doodle is celebrating The Great Winter
Solstice Conjunction which many of you might not know about this great
astronomical phenomenon. Today in this article we will explain to you about
winter solstice but this year, there are some specialties, Google is
celebrating Winter 2020. The Great Conjunction in Northern Hemisphere as Earth's
Northern Hemisphere hunkers down for winter and it's the longest night of the
year. It seems Jupiter and Saturn have decided to put on a quite unusual show
for the world to see.
So, what is The Great Winter Solstice and what exactly is creating this celestial phenomenon?
The two largest planets in our solar system will
nearly overlap to form a double planet and even that hasn't been easily visible
since the middle ages almost 800 years ago. Today's animated doodle celebrates
the Northern Hemispheres first day of winter as well as the rare double planet
sighting or Great Conjunction which can be viewed from anywhere around the
world.
Based on their orbits from our vantage point on Earth,
Jupiter and Saturn will cross within one degree of each other, a fraction of
the width of the full moon. Once in a lifetime a ranger was created in dual artwork
but looks can be deceiving as the two gas giants will actually remain a distance
of approximately 450 million miles apart, make sure you look out low above the
horizon tonight and takes its moments meet and greet between Jupiter and Saturn,
it's sure to be out of this world. We are attaching a picture from NASA for
their collaboration on this doodle so find a great spot if you are interested
in watching the great conjunction on the longest night of the year. You can
find a spot or with an unobstructed view of this case such as a field or park. An
hour after sunset Jupiter will look like a bright star and be easily visible in
the Southern Southwest of sky and Saturn will be slightly fainter and will
appear slightly above and go to the left of Jupiter until December 21st when Jupiter
will overtake it and they will reverse positions in the scale.
