A spectacular gathering of bright planets will be the chief celestial attraction in the evening sky this weekend as Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury appear to crowd into tight quarters.
Low in the southwestern evening sky just 30 to 45 minutes after sundown, we’ll be treated to what might be referred to as a celestial summit meeting, a triple conjunction, with the three planets fitting within a circle smaller than 5 degrees.
Brilliant Jupiter (magnitude –1.9), medium-bright Mercury (-0.9) and dimmer, yellow-white Saturn (+0.6) will be contained within a 5-degree circle from Jan. 8 to Jan. 12, appearing closest together on Sunday evening (Jan. 10).
