Twitter User Doesn’t Believe That Jupiter And Saturn Got Closer Together In The Sky In The Middle Ages, Gets Schooled

Astronomy—it’s not rocket science. Well, it kind of is, though, but it’s not some obscure branch of magic. The combined power of math, physics, and science seems to be eluding some people on the internet and blowing minds left and right, however.

When CNN shared an article about Jupiter and Saturn coming ‘closer together’ than they’ve been since the Middle Ages, one Twitter user seemed skeptical and claimed there was no proof.

That’s when American actress, comedian, and writer Azie Dungey stepped in. She explained how planetary orbits were and how math can help us make predictions about celestial bodies very accurately. Check out the interaction between them below, dear Pandas.

CNN’s article about the spectacle that we can expect to see on December 21 made actress Azie Dungey step in and teach a Twitter user how math and orbits work

Image credits: CNN

Image credits: paulsca75800710

Image credits: AzieDee

Image credits: paulsca75800710

Image credits: AzieDee

Image credits: paulsca75800710

Image credits: AzieDee

Dungey, a comedy veteran, played the lead role in the web series ‘Ask a Slave’ and is writing a follow-up book. She wrote the script for ‘Ask A Slave’ after moving to Los Angeles in 2013. The series, where she played George and Martha Washington’s housemaid Lizzie Mae, got over 2 million views. Dungey is also a writer for Netflix’s ‘Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.’

Spreading the good word about math and helping educate the ignorant in the ways of physics is awesome (and some of us like seeing a good putdown on social media once in a while). But for me personally, the highlight was the sciency news! We’ve got something else to look forward to in December, not just Christmas!

According to CNN, on the night of December 21 (that’s the Winter Solstice), Jupiter and Saturn will look like a double planet from Earth because of how close they’ll appear in the night sky.

“Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to one another,” Patrick Hartigan, a professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University, told CNN.

Hartigan pointed out that you have to go all the way back to “just before dawn” on March 4, 1226 to see “a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.”

If you live in London, New York, or elsewhere along those latitudes, you can try spotting the conjunction spectacle just after sunset. A pair of binoculars or a telescope can really help you out, but they’re not absolutely necessary, so don’t be sad if you don’t have the gear at home.

I don’t know about you, dear Pandas, but I’ll be keeping an eye on the sky on December 21. I just hope it’ll be a clear evening and those pesky clouds won’t ruin the show. The next conjunction won’t happen until March 15, 2080 while the one after that will occur in 2400, after all. I plan to make it to the 2080 astronomical show, at least, though.