Abstract
CONJUNCTION OF JUPITER AND NEPTUNE.—On the morning of April 20 these planets will be within 1° of each other; the actual distance at 4 a.m. will be 0° 55′, Jupiter being on the north side of Neptune. Jupiter will set at 2.37 a.m. The motion of the two objects is so slow that in the earlier hours of the night of April 19 their relative positions will be but slightly different from that at the time of conjunction on April 20 at 4 a.m. Neptune will be situated in Cancer about 2¾° east-south-east of the star cluster called Praesepe and 1½ east of the star §Cancri. Neptune may be easily picked up in a good telescope, but is not brighter than about eighth magnitude. To identify this faint object if the small stars north of Jupiter are unknown requires that the observer should make a diagram of the objects in the field of the telescope and compare it with later observations in a few weeks' time. At the period of conjunction Neptune will be stationary.
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Our Astronomical Column. Nature 105, 213 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/105213a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/105213a0