A spectacular conjunction of Jupiter and our moon will take place on Jan. 21 that will make it appear as if the two celestial orbs are only a few degrees away from each other.

A waxing gibbous moon, 78-percent illuminated, will pass within less than a degree to the south of Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system. This event will be sure to get attention from stargazers around North America as it will be visible even for residents of bright cities.

This year's conjunction of the moon and Jupiter appearing close to each other will not happen again until the year 2026, according to EarthSky.org.

The best viewing of the event depends on location, with the closest approach in the evening of Jan. 21 around 7 p.m. in the Pacific Time zone, 8:30 p.m. Mountain, 10 p.m. Central, and 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time, according to RedOrbit.com.

Although the Moon and Jupiter look close together, they're definitely not. The Moon is 1.3 light-seconds (around 250,000 miles) distant from Earth. Jupiter is 1,700 times farther away in the background, at a distance of 37 light-minutes.

Similar conjunctions took place in November and December of last year, but the upcoming event will be the closest of the three incidents, according to a report by Cecil Daily. Other conjunctions are expected to take place in February and March.

Space.com has a photo gallery that shows Jupiter and the full moon show that took place in Nov. 2012 that can be seen HERE.

Jupiter is seen now between the Pleiades star cluster, which is also known as the Seven Sisters, and the Hyades star cluster. The cluster of stars in Hyades is found within the V-shaped zodiac constellation of Taurus the Bull.

The large planet is several times brighter than orange-colored Aldebaran, which is Taurus's brightest star.

Tags
Moon, Jupiter