December's Planetary Alignment from the Mt. Sopris Observatory

12.21.2020 - Jupiter and Saturn will be so close they will appear to form a "double planet." Such a spectacular great conjunction, as the planetary alignment has come to be known, hasn't occurred in nearly 800 years.

When their orbits align every 20 years, Jupiter and Saturn get extremely close to one another. Jupiter orbits the sun every 12 years, while Saturn's orbit takes 30 years, so every few decades Jupiter laps Saturn, according to NASA.

These images were taken just after sunset on December 21, the winter solstice.