Watch the Great Conjunction Live on Dec. 21!

On the day of the Solstice, December 21st, an astronomical event hundreds of years in the making will take center stage as Jupiter and Saturn cozy up in an epic conjunction. At their closest, the visual separation between these two planetary favorites will be about 6 arc minutes, which is one-fifth the size of the Full Moon.

To celebrate this once-in-a-lifetime event, Explore Scientific's Explore Alliance and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada are co-hosting a special Global Star Party that will include live images of the conjunction and appearances by comet discoverer David Levy, Astronomy Magazine's Editor-in-Chief David Eicher, and world renowned astrophotographer Jack Newton. They will be joined by iconic astronomers and astrophotographers from locations around the world, who will share their insights on the event and other astronomical topics.

The free live show will be broadcast in intervals throughout the day on Dec. 21, 2020, and will be simulcast on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch and Twitter. A complete schedule for the live broadcast will be posted at explorescientific.com/live.

For those who want to do their own observing or discover more about this long-anticipated planetary pairing, please download the December issue of Sky's Up Magazine — a global astronomy magazine brought to you by the Explore Alliance — for a free complete guide to watch and photograph this stunning celestial event.

This is an astronomical occurrence that humans have not witnessed in hundreds of years, and you don't want to miss it, so join us live so we can delight in this spectacle together!

Sky's Up goes global!

The Explore Alliance is excited to introduce its latest endeavor: a reimagining of Sky's Up digital magazine into a Global Astronomy Magazine! In this premiere issue, readers can get a global perspective on the latest happenings in astronomy and discover more about the curiosities in our solar system and beyond! This first issue includes features on the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, research on Venus, astronomy outreach efforts around the world and astropoetry. It also includes an astrophotography gallery, observing tips, star charts and STEM activities. Click the cover to explore the issue now!