Jupiter-Pluto alignment

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Jupiter gives us Pluto in 2020
Bruce McClure in ASTRONOMY ESSENTIALS | SPACE | April 1, 2020

Jupiter and Pluto stay close together on the sky’s dome throughout 2020. This year may well present the best Jupiter-Pluto alignment for centuries to come, with the first of the year’s 3 Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions to fall on April 5, 2020.

Mosaic image of Pluto and its largest moon Charon, captured around the time the New Horizons spacecraft swept closest to them on July 14, 2015. Image via NASA/ JHUAPL/ SwRI.

The king planet Jupiter is as hard to miss with the eye alone as the dwarf planet Pluto is difficult to find with the telescope. Jupiter is bright! It ranks as the fourth-brightest celestial object to light up the heavens, after the sun, moon and planet Venus. Pluto, on the other hand, is faint. It’s about 1,600 times dimmer than the faintest star visible to the unaided eye. It’s true that the best time of year to see Pluto through a small telescope is around the planet’s yearly opposition, when Earth is going between Pluto and the sun. That’ll happen this year on July 15-16, 2020.

However, this year – 2020 – is exceptional for Jupiter and Pluto. These two worlds are having a triple conjunction. They’ll come together, move apart, and come together again three times in 2020. The first conjunction will take place on April 5. The second one will come on June 30, and the final one on November 12. Because all of these Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions will happen when these two planets are actually visible in our night sky (as opposed to being lost in the sun’s glare), this year’s Jupiter-Pluto alignment may be the best for centuries to come.

This year, very bright Jupiter and very faint Pluto will remain near each other throughout the year, closely aligned in front of the constellation Sagittarius. Pluto requires a telescope to be seen. No telescope? Try NASA’s Night Sky Network to find star parties and/or astronomy clubs near you. And you don’t need a telescope to use your imagination. Throughout 2020, dazzling Jupiter will enable us to envision Pluto with the mind’s eye on the sky’s dome. First find Jupiter and – presto – you’ve nearly stumbled upon Pluto. Just remember, Jupiter outshines Pluto by several million times.
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NASA's Night Sky Network is available here:

https://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/event-list.cfm