Nature’s Fireworks with the Sky Giants Saturn and Jupiter

It’s a weekend full of fireworks across the land, and up in the sky the giant planets are also putting on a show: The Roman gods Saturn and Jupiter were known to the Ancient Greeks as Cronus and Zeus, a father and son with a dynamic fate that lends itself to celebrating a summer weekend of fireworks. Tonight, visitors can peek through the Roger McCormick 20? PlaneWave Telescope in the Observatory Tower out into the planetary system to get optimal views of the Saturn giant and his Olympian son Jupiter. These two come together in conjunction only every 20 years (the next will be in 2020), creating a triangle form that precesses through the sky throughout history. Tonight we’ll prepare for the coming conjunction by learning about the connections between Saturn and Jupiter in mythology, their influence on the world of astronomy, and more!