Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction

Evening of 21 Dec 2020, the winter solstice, brought a rare celestial event: a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, so close together in the night sky as to appear almost like a single celestial body. Unfortunately it it was cloudy and rainy over Halifax all that night, but the planets were still fairly close together the next evening. I hauled out my NEX3N mirrorless DSLR with its 200mm telephoto lens and managed to catch the planets post-conjunction in the western sky:

Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction (22 Dec 2020)

Zoomed and cropped it was even possible to see the Galilean moons, though any other details like Jovian bands or Saturn’s rings were lost to blur and glare:

Jupiter-Saturn Conjunction (crop, 22 Dec 2020)

If you missed seeing it, it’s okay; you can set a reminder for the next comparably close Jupiter-Saturn conjunction: 15 March 2080, early morning.