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On Christmas week, the longest night of the year, giants approach the night sky in the rare and spectacular Great Reunion phenomenon.
Astronomers believe that this “double planet” may actually be the star described in the Bible that arose before Christmas.
Christmas Eve will also be visible from Bulgaria, but for now the forecast is that the clouds hide it
The “great union” of the planets Jupiter and Saturn will illuminate the evening of the darkest day of the year, December 21. In our eyes, almost a merger of the two giants, like the present one, has not occurred since the Middle Ages, astronomers say.
“Large compound” or
“Great meeting”
is the term scientists use for a rare and extremely spectacular phenomenon. Jupiter and Saturn are aligned in front of the human eye. They are now expected to be so close that they will glow after sunset like a very bright “double star.” Astronomers call the phenomenon the Christmas star due to the hypothesis that the Biblical story of the star of Bethlehem was inspired by such a gathering of planets.
The visual “reunion” of the two giants takes place every 20 years, but the last time the world was able to see such close contact as expected on December 21 was in 1226.
The “union” of Jupiter and Saturn will be visible from Bulgaria, if the sky is clear enough, says the head of the Rozhen Observatory (Look down).
The two giants may appear to be close, but in reality they are hundreds of millions of miles apart, NASA reports (more precisely, 646 million kilometers).
the view will be
amazing
if you can see it shortly after sunset, adds the US space agency.
It’s just that Jupiter and Saturn, traveling in their orbits, periodically stand in the line of sight so close that with the naked eye they see themselves as an elongated star.
Now Jupiter and Saturn are visibly “getting closer”; in early December, they were two degrees apart. (About two fingers if extended forward). The culmination is
December 21, when will they be
only 0.1 degrees in the night sky.
The last time these planets were so close was in March 1226. To get an idea, let’s remember that it was 22 years after the Crusaders conquered Constantinople and
4 years before Tsar Ivan Asen II
break into Klokotnitsa
the army of the ruler of Epirus, Theodore Comnenus.
The current “great encounter” is one of those rare moments when the greatness of the solar system is revealed with the naked eye, he says. Prof. Konstantin Batigin from the California Institute of Technology to the New York Times.
“For most adults, now is the only chance to see this: says Amy Oliver, spokeswoman for the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Many young children may be able to see it a second time. For others, it is “now or never”.
The reason is that the next time there will be a “big reunion” of Jupiter and Saturn, although not so close, it will be after 60 years, in 2080.
Why the star of Bethlehem?
The “planetary fusion” is one of the scientific explanations of the star of Bethlehem described in the Bible, which appeared at the birth of Christ.
This hypothesis was first put forward by the great German astronomer Johann Kepler, derived the laws of planetary motion: that the Star of Bethlehem was actually a collection of the pair of planets Jupiter and Saturn in 7 BC. C.
Today, most attempts to scientifically explain the Star of Bethlehem involve unusual “encounters” on the planets. Guy Consolmano, Vatican astronomer.
According to John Mosley, Director of Programs at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles it’s possible
what are magicians
saw there was a “meeting”
of Jupiter and Venus in 2 a. C.
There are other astronomical theories. According to Luke Barnes, an astrophysicist at Western University in Sydney, the main ones, in addition to a large meeting of Jupiter and Saturn, are due to the appearance of a supernova and a comet.
Believe whatever theory you want, but keep in mind that the next appearance of such a show in all its glory will be in 2400, astronomers say.
Dr. Nikola Petrov, head of the Rozhen Observatory:
They appear immediately after sunset.
Forecasters: clouds can hide the phenomenon
“The planets Jupiter and Saturn will be impressively close before Christmas, and looking at them from Earth, they will visually touch,” said Dr. Nikola Petrov, director of the Rozhen National Astronomical Observatory.
“I support that idea by talking about the Star of Bethlehem described in the Bible. Some researchers believe that this is exactly what happened some 2,000 years ago, when people saw a bright star at the birth of Christ. Most likely one of the ideas associated with this bright star is the visual merger of Jupiter and Saturn. “People then associated the phenomenon with their culture and legends,” he added.
“This occurs very rarely and cannot be observed from the entire surface of the Earth, but only from a corridor with a length of 1500 km and a width of 500-600 km. It will be observed in Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, in Western Europe and in the south, perhaps in Egypt. The further north and south, the more divided the planets will be, “added the astronomer.
If the sky is clear, the phenomenon can be observed with the naked eye immediately after sunset in a west-southwest direction. With binoculars and an unpretentious telescope, you can better see the distance between the planets.
December 21 is the winter solstice, when it is the longest night of the year.
For December 20 and 21, the weather will be dynamic. The wind will intensify and the fog will dissipate. However, the clouds will increase in height. So said the climatologist of the University of Sofia Dr. Simeon Matev.
The forecast for December 21 is for significant clouds, with a probability greater than 70%. However, the process is not very safe and there is the possibility of seeing the Star of Bethlehem. As December 21 approaches, the certainty of the forecast will increase. ” said the meteorologist.
How one giant “catches up” with the other
Saturn and Jupiter are two of the five planets visible to the naked eye in the night sky (the others are Mercury, Venus, and Mars).
Jupiter shines with white light much stronger than Saturn, whose light is more golden.
The giant Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system, Saturn with its ring is the second.
Jupiter orbits the Sun for 12 Earth years and Saturn for almost 30 years. Astronomers explain that Jupiter “catches up” with Saturn, which orbits in a wider orbit, once every 20 years. But in our eyes, they rarely look as close as they will be on December 21.
In fact, although a little further apart (5.2 degrees), they were in July 1623. That was 9 years before Galileo Galilei announced that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other way around. But then the locations of Jupiter and Saturn were such that they were difficult to see because of the Sun, the scientists explain.
How the Magi arrive in Bethlehem
In the second chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men see a star that has appeared in the east. They take this as a sign that the Messiah has been born. The star takes them to Bethlehem.
“And behold, the star that they had seen in the east was going before them, until it came and stood over the child’s place.”
“And when they arrived at the house, they found the child with Mary his mother, and falling down, they worshiped him: and they opened their treasures and offered him presents: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Wizards were, in fact, astrologers, in other words, “stellar benefactors.” People who have carefully observed the starry sky and unusual phenomena and have given them special importance.
Working on the topic:
Yuri Velev
Valentin hadjiev
Yaroslav Prokhazkov
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