See the ISS flying between Jupiter and Saturn

Of course, such a rare sight as the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn has been filmed by countless

photographers. However, a few days ago, photographer Jason De Freitas took a particularly good photo that shows the ISS moving between two planets.

Let us remind you that a great conjunction is a rapprochementJupiter and Saturn in the night sky. Great conjunctions occur on average every 19.86 years, when Jupiter, whose orbital period around the Sun is 11.86 years, “catch up” in the sky with the planet Saturn, whose orbital period is 29.46 years. The last Great Conjunction occurred on December 21, 2020, when the two planets were separated in the sky by 6 arcminutes (~1⁄5 the angular diameter of the lunar disk). Before this, such a close conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurred on July 16, 1623, but on that day these planets were close to the Sun and were unobservable. As a rule, planets during conjunctions only pass by each other at a certain angular distance, since the planes of their orbits do not coincide. Only in very rare cases do the planets appear on the same line of sight for an earthly observer; The last time such an event (the occultation of Saturn by Jupiter) during a great conjunction occurred was in 6856 BC.

While Jupiter and Saturn arerelatively close to each other in the sky about every 20 years, the last time they were as close as during the great conjunction (and observed), March 4, 1226 or 794 years ago.

While planning to photograph the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, De Freitas realized that he could also include the ISS in the frame.

“I was incredibly lucky when I realized I could capture the path of the International Space Station through the Jupiter-Saturn junction,” says de Freitas.

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