Like the Star of Bethlehem: Jupiter and Saturn to get cozy in night sky
The solar system’s two gas giants are coming together in a big way on Monday night, at least from our perspective here on Earth.
The celestial objects will be so close as to appear almost as one bright star in the December sky. It happens to be the longest night of the year - the winter solstice on Dec. 21 - and they haven’t been seen this close in nearly 800 years.
Known as a planetary conjunction, it’s similar to what astronomers posited happened around the birth of Jesus Christ, except then it was the combination of Jupiter and Venus, according to space.com.
Biblical verses tell of three kings come to worship the baby born in Bethlehem after seeing a star in the East.
For 2020, though, the Christmas star will be from Jupiter and Saturn, which haven’t been this close in the observable night sky since the year 1226, back when St. Francis of Assisi was still kicking.
“It’s pretty rare for Jupiter and Saturn to get as close as that in the sky. Every 20 years they are sort-of close when Jupiter passes Saturn in the sky, but every so often at one of those passages they get really close, like what’ll happen on Monday,” says UCF astronomy and physics professor and director of the Robinson Observatory Yan Fernandez.
Those with a normal telescope could get both planets within the same field of vision. Fernandez said their distance will be just a fraction of the width of the full moon, or 0.1 degree apart.
From the naked eye, they won’t quite appear as one star, unless you take your glasses off. Look to the southwest after sunset to see them together, and don’t dally, as they will be setting below the horizon soon after. It won’t happen again for another 60 years, in March 2080.
