Jupiter and Saturn are about to become most closely related in modern history. Don’t miss this once in a millennium event.
In an event that has not occurred in 800 years, Jupiter and Saturn will line up to create a bright “star” in the sky known as the “Christmas Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”.
So what makes this year’s spectacle so rare? It’s been nearly 400 years since the planets passed so close together in the sky from our point of view, and nearly 800 years since Saturn and Jupiter were aligned at night, as will be the case tonight, so almost everyone is on the whole The world can witness this “great connection”.
Tonight the two planets in the western sky will be only 0.1 degrees apart – so close that some people will perceive them as a single brilliant “star”.
Patrick Hartigan, an astronomer at Rice University, told Forbes.
Alignments between these two planets are rather rare and occur about every 20 years. However, this connection is exceptionally rare as the planets appear to be close together.
You would have to go back to just before sunrise on March 4, 1226 to see closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.
Stargazers in the northern hemisphere should turn their heads and telescopes toward the southwest of the sky about 30-45 minutes after sunset to see the two planets. They are low on the horizon and disappear later in the evening when they slide below the horizon.
Photo credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech
It would look like this, just closer tonight in the US:
Recorded by Heiko Ulbricht on December 21, 2020 @ Opitz, Saxony, Germany
If you have a small telescope or binoculars, the view might look like this:
And if you have a bigger telescope and the resources, here’s what you might see:
Recorded by Christopher Go on December 21, 2020 in the Philippines.
For those who want to see this phenomenon for themselves, here’s what to do:
- Find a place with a clear view of the sky, e.g. B. a field or a park. Jupiter and Saturn are bright so they can be seen even from most cities.
- Look at the southwest sky an hour after sunset. Jupiter looks like a bright star and is easily visible. Saturn is getting a little weaker and appears slightly above and to the left of Jupiter until December 21st when Jupiter overtakes it and they reverse positions in the sky.
- The planets can be seen with the naked eye. However, if you have binoculars or a small telescope, you may be able to see Jupiter’s four large moons orbiting the huge planet.
Like this:
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