By now you may have been seeing articles about the “Christmas Star” that will be visible on the evening of Dec. 21.
Some reports are saying this will be the same star the Three Wise Men followed. Some scholars suggest the Christmas Star was not a bright new star that was leading the wise men but rather a conjunction of two or three planets in the night sky and that the Wise Men were following, or watching.
A planetary conjunction is when two or more planets seem to align, or come together, in the night sky. While the planets are still millions of miles away from each other during a planetary conjunction they will appear close together in the sky. On the 21st of December Jupiter and Saturn will be very close together, and that is what people are calling the Christmas Star of 2020.
Jupiter and Saturn are moving closer to each other and now is a good time to start watching the two planets. Both Jupiter and Saturn can be seen with the naked, or unaided eye. You will need a clear view of the southwest sky to see the two planets. If there are trees or buildings to the southwest you may need to go to a more open area to observe the conjunction.
Look low and to the southwest about 6pm local time and you should be able to see Jupiter and Saturn. Jupiter will easily be the brightest “star” in that part of the sky. Once you have located Jupiter look above and just to the left of Jupiter and you will see Saturn. There will not be any other stars between the two and you should be able to see both of them with just your eyes. If you have binoculars do try them. They will make the planets much easier to see.
Right now is the time to start following these two planets but just how close will they appear? They will be about 1/5th of the diameter of the moon from each other. That is about 1/10th of an astronomical degree. Do you need something a little easier to visualize how close they will be? Take a dime and hold it out at arms length. Now turn the dime so you can only see the edge of the dime, not the face of the dime. That is how close they will appear. Some people may not be able to see both Jupiter and Saturn because they will be so close. To some they may merge into one bright star.
Let us hope for clear skies so we can all see the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. The last time these two planets appeared this close together was almost 800 years ago, and the next time they are this close will be in 2080. This might be called the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction of 2020 and it might be called the Christmas star of 2020. It may also be a sign of hope to some people, hope for a better 2021. No matter what you call it or it means to you or others, take the time to locate these two planets and enjoy the show.
