Conjunction between the Moon and Jupiter
2015 Dec 31
Dominic Ford – originally published on In-The-Sky.org
The Moon and Jupiter will make a close approach, passing within 1°23' of each other.
From London (click to change), the pair will be visible in the morning sky. They will become accessible at around 23:26, when they rise 7° above your eastern horizon. They will then reach its highest point in the sky at 04:59, 42° above your southern horizon. They will be lost to dawn twilight at around 07:41, 32° above your south-western horizon.
At the moment of closest approach, the Moon will be at mag -12.1, and Jupiter at mag -2.2, both in the constellation Leo.
The pair will be too widely separated to fit within the field of view of a telescope, but will be visible to the naked eye or through a pair of binoculars.
The precise positions of the Moon and Jupiter at the moment of closest approach will be as follows:
| Object | Right Ascension | Declination | Constellation | Magnitude | Angular Size |
| The Moon | 11h34m10s | +02°37' | Leo | -12.1 | 29'41"7 |
| Jupiter | 11h35m50s | +03°56' | Leo | -2.2 | 38"1 |
The coordinates above are given in J2000.0. The pair will be at an angular separation of 106° from the Sun, which is in Sagittarius at this time of year.
The details of this observing event were provided courtesy of In-The-Sky.org
.