When planets meet
Every time two of the five bright planets line up along the zodiac over the next three years, how close they really come in the sky, and whether they can be seen at all or are lost in the Sun’s glare.
The next three years
The meetings are worked out in this browser when the page opens, from the same astronomy as the rest of the site.
The next great conjunction
Jupiter and Saturn, the two slowest planets that can be seen without a telescope, meet about every twenty years. The last time was 21 December 2020, when they passed a tenth of a degree apart, the closest since 1623.
The Moon passes the planets
The Moon goes round the zodiac in a month and passes every planet on the way. These are the passes of the next thirty days, measured from the centre of the Earth: the Moon is close enough that from where you stand it can sit up to a degree away from this.
What a conjunction is
Two planets are in conjunction when they stand at the same longitude on the zodiac as seen from the Earth. They are not near each other in space: at a great conjunction Jupiter and Saturn are still hundreds of millions of kilometres apart, one behind the other. Because the planets’ orbits are tilted a little against each other, most meetings pass a degree or more apart, one planet north of the other, and only a few in a decade come closer than the width of the full Moon.
How it is worked out
For each of the ten pairs the page compares the two longitudes day by day and halves down to the minute they are equal, from the same astronomy as the rest of the site. That minute is the conjunction, and its date is the one listed. At that minute the page measures the true angle between the two planets on the sky as seen from the centre of the Earth, which at equal longitude is simply how far one stands north of the other, and how far each stands from the Sun. The two are not always closest then: when one of them is slow or about to turn, the gap can go on closing for hours or a few days, so where they come at least three minutes of arc nearer than at the meeting, the list gives that distance and its date as well. A pass in which one planet turns back just short of the other is not a conjunction by longitude, and it is not listed. Closer than about twelve degrees a planet is usually lost in the Sun’s glare. That is a single rough rule for the whole list, where the visibility page uses one for each planet, and the horizon, the weather and your latitude all matter. Dates and times are by this device’s clock.
What astrology makes of it
A conjunction is read in astrology as the two planets’ themes blending, and the meetings of Jupiter and Saturn were long used to mark eras: for about two centuries they fall in signs of one element, and the meeting of 2020 was the first of a run in air signs. That is the tradition, described here. The page gives the dates and distances and predicts nothing.
Questions people ask
What is a great conjunction?
A great conjunction is a meeting of Jupiter and Saturn, the two slowest planets visible to the naked eye. Jupiter catches Saturn up about every twenty years, and when Jupiter’s backward loop straddles the meeting point the two can line up three times within a year. The last was on 21 December 2020. Astrology traditionally used these meetings to mark long eras, because successive ones stay in signs of one element for about two centuries. This page finds the next one and gives how far apart the pair passes.
When is the next planetary conjunction?
The list under The next three years gives every meeting of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn from today, worked out in your browser when the page opens. Each line has the date, the sign, how far apart the two planets really pass and how far they stand from the Sun. Choosing a line draws the pair at their true separation beside a full Moon at the same scale, and the closest meeting of the three years is marked. The Moon’s passes by each planet over the next thirty days follow further down.
Can you see a conjunction of planets with the naked eye?
Often, because all five planets on this page are bright enough to find without a telescope. What hides a meeting is the Sun: when the pair stands closer to it than about twelve degrees they are usually lost in its glare, and the list says so. Otherwise the note says whether to look in the morning sky or the evening sky. A pair within a few degrees of each other fits in one view through ordinary binoculars, but wait until the Sun is fully below the horizon before using them.
How close do two planets get in a conjunction?
Closer on the zodiac than in the sky. A conjunction is the minute two planets share the same longitude, but their orbits are tilted slightly against each other, so at that minute one usually stands a degree or more north or south of the other. Very close passes are rare: Jupiter and Saturn in December 2020 came within a tenth of a degree. The list gives each separation in degrees and minutes of arc, and where the gap goes on closing for hours or days afterwards, the closest distance and its date as well.