An Australian photographer took a photo showing the International Space Station (ISS) during the Great Conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn, reported Colossal.
The grand conjunction is when two planets appear closest together in the sky. This event occurs roughly every two decades. But what happened on December 21st of that year was special because Jupiter and Saturn appeared closer to the sky during this great conjunction than they had since March 4th, 1226.
Many photographers and space enthusiasts trained their cameras for the event and took photos of the event. One of them, however, is definitely notable for capturing the ISS, a habitable artificial satellite and a multinational collaborative project that moves between the two glowing planets.
The photographer who took the picture is Jason De Freitas. He traveled for an hour from his home in New South Wales to the Jellore Lookout, where he used a variety of devices to align and click on the – almost literally – outstanding photo. The image had a ten second exposure.
The 28-year-old Australian is an aerospace engineer by day and a “crazy scientist-photographer” by night. According to his website, “he does unique and experimental work with analog media … Jason is known for his analog astrophotography, aerochromic infrared landscapes, and stereoscopic star trails.”
This major conjunction is expected to last until Christmas Day 2020. However, the two planets were closest on December 21st. The next major conjunctions will take place in 2040 and 2060. However, visibility is not expected to be as good as this time.
An Indian photographer’s picture of the event also caused a stir on the Internet. Sajal Chakravorty, who lives in Melbourne, clicked on a picture in which he captured not only the two planets but also the four largest moons of Jupiter.
The pictures of the enthusiasts caused a stir on social media. Many organized elaborate agreements with telescopes in order to be able to observe the phenomenon. NASA, the US space agency, also published a picture of what the grand conjunction looked like from the moon.
“Skywatchers are just around the corner at the end of the year. What has become popularly known as the “Christmas star” is a particularly vivid planetary conjunction that is clearly visible in the evening sky for the next two weeks when the bright planets Jupiter and Saturn come together and peak on the night of December 21st ” , NASA had posted on its website on December 15th, giving astronomy enthusiasts a much-needed reason to cheer.