Dunedin astronomers catch rare sighting of Great Conjuction

Dunedin amateur astronomer Ash Pennell with the Beverly- Begg Observatory's 35cm telescope. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

Dunedin amateur astronomers recently gained a rare New Zealand sighting, one of the best in the country, of the Great Conjunction, involving Jupiter and Saturn.

This was the closest pairing of the two giant gas planets seen from Earth since 1623, almost 400 years ago.

Former Dunedin Astronomical Society president Ash Pennell said heavy cloud throughout the country prevented observations of the two biggest planets in our solar system at their apparently closest point, on December 21.

Heavy cloud also made viewing difficult on December 22.

However, Dunedin astronomers had hoped for a break in the weather and set up their computerised telescope to make an unusual daylight observation from the society's Beverly-Begg Observatory that afternoon.

Astronomers would usually be looking low in the southwest sky after 10pm.

Dunedin astronomers were "thrilled" to get a good view of the Great Conjunction from about 2.40pm, when skies briefly cleared.

Society member Mirko Harnisch took photographs, and Pennell wrote an article about the conjunction, which will be published in Southern Stars, the Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand's journal, he said.

Gas giants Jupi ter (above) and Saturn, with rings visible, appear close together. Photo / Mirko Harnisch

"We nailed it.

"We feel privileged to have witnessed something astronomically special," Pennell said.

To the naked eye, on December 21 the two planets appeared almost to touch, and this particularly close conjunction will not occur again until March 2080.