North Texas Weather Center News

2020's Final Meteor Shower & Saturn/Jupiter Conjunction Peaks Tonight! The PERFECT Night for Stargazers

12/21/2020

Tonight features the longest night of 2020. For stargazers, this will also be a PERFECT night to watch some shooting stars after sunset!

North Texans have the opportunity to view the last meteor shower of 2020. Conditions will be perfect tonight, with relatively clear skies across the metroplex.

The December solstice occured at 5:02AM EST this morning, or 4:02AM in Texas. For the Northern Hemisphere, we are witnessing the shortest day of 2020, while in the Southern Hemisphere, they are witnessing their longest day of 2020.

For all of us North Texans, the extended hours of darkness will feature two celestial happenings that may be worth staying up late to see.
The first of the two events can be seen ANYWHERE in Texas. In fact, you can see these events anywhere in the United States, or even around the world! But, keep in mind that these events will only be visible for an hour, or at most two hours after sunset. You may see these events in the western sky tonight.

First, Jupiter and Saturn Conjunction will occur tonight, which will be visible in the Southwestern sky. This will be visible for only about 90 minutes after sunset. This is the first time in over 800 years that this has been visible!

Later tonight, shooting stars will fly across the sky as winter's meteor shower will reach its peak. This is called the Ursid meteor shower. This will occur late Monday night into the early hours of Tuesday morning. This is only visible in the Northern Hemisphere.

Both of these events you will not want to miss! Bring out the telescope and make sure you are ready to witness some spectacular events tonight.

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2020's Final Meteor Shower & Saturn/Jupiter Conjunction Peaks Tonight! The PERFECT Night for Stargazers

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