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A clock model for planetary conjunctions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2023

Sunil K. Chebolu
Sunil K. Chebolu*
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, llinois State University, Normal, IL 61790, USA e-mail: [email protected]
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On 21 December 2020 the night sky offered a beautiful astronomical treat for stargazers worldwide. An exceptionally rare conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn brought them to 0.1 degrees of angular separation – a fifth of the full moon’s diameter. It marked their closest approach since 1623 and the closest visible conjunction since 1226 (almost 800 years ago!). Astronomy enthusiasts crossed their fingers for clear skies and waited eagerly for this event. The internet and social media were inundated with pictures and news reports, celebrating the great conjunction of our solar system’s two most extensive and majestic planets.

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Articles
Information
The Mathematical Gazette , Volume 107 , Issue 570 , November 2023 , pp. 422 - 429
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Authors, 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mathematical Association

References

Etz, Donald V., Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, 94 (2000) pp. 174–178.Google Scholar
Hannu, Karttunen, Pekka, Kröger, Heikki, Oja, Markku Poutanen and Karl Johan Donner, Fundamental astronomy (6th edn.) Springer (2016).Google Scholar