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Various media have highlighted in the last hours that the “star of Bethlehem” will be seen in Colombia next Monday, December 21. Although that day one of the most anticipated astronomical events of the year will take place, it has little or nothing to do with the belief of the Christian tradition. Instead, it is a historical alignment between the two largest planets in the Solar System: Jupiter and Saturn.
Jupiter and Saturn, the largest planets in the solar system, are the two giants that will star in a historical alignment on Monday (which has not been recorded for four hundred years, and which will not be repeated until 2080). co or nothing really has to do with the light in heaven that revealed the way for the wise men to reach Bethlehem, according to Christian tradition. This does not mean that it ceases to be a fascinating phenomenon.
Jupiter and Saturn, the largest planets in the solar system, are the two giants that will star in a historical alignment on Monday (which has not been recorded for four hundred years, and which will not be repeated until 2080). (You may be interested: COVID-19 vaccines, among the 2020 scientific milestones for the journal ‘Science’)
A conjunction that in addition to being exceptional and unique will be especially interesting due to the proximity of the two planets, which will be located “only” 810 million kilometers away. The astronomical event that has mobilized numerous scientific institutions and astronomical societies around the world to make observations and broadcast the event live.
The alignment of the Earth with Jupiter and Saturn will also coincide with the winter solstice -the shortest day and the longest night of the year-, reasons why various astronomers emphasize that these types of events are the ones that propitiate the connection between the science and society, and those who unleash the fascination for the Universe. (You can read: The first lunar samples from a Chinese probe reached Earth)
Several scientific institutions, researchers, fans and disseminators have programmed numerous spaces and broadcasts -although there will be no face-to-face concentrations- for the contemplation of an alignment that will culminate on Monday and that will be visible, if the sky allows it, with the naked eye, but that will “Perfect” with binoculars or simple telescopes, with which you can even distinguish the many satellites of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn.
How to see it from Colombia?
To witness the phenomenon, people should look to the west, where the Sun is hidden. Once the sunset begins, two very bright points will be observed, which although they look like stars, they will be Jupiter and Saturn. As night falls, the astronomical event will have better visibility, which will end around 8:30 pm
For its observation it is important to be located in a place without much light pollution. (It may interest you: The 10 most relevant people for science in 2020 according to the magazine ‘Nature’)
In addition, scientific institutions, astronomical societies and associations have scheduled live broadcasts of the event for Monday night (including the FAAE YouTube channel), so that anyone can see this historical event with the naked eye.
What this event reveals
The researcher Miguel Ángel López Valverde, from the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia (IAA / CSIC) has pointed out that it is a “particularly beautiful” occasion to observe this historical event -better even from amateur telescopes than from the most sophisticated and professional observatories- , and has underlined the interest that the alignments of the bodies of the Solar System and especially eclipses arouse.
Valverde explained that these eclipses, especially when a planet aligns itself with a distant star, reveal to scientists information about the composition and density of a planet’s atmosphere and therefore also the habitability conditions.
The orbits of Jupiter and Saturn produce conjunctions every twenty years, but rarely as close as the one that will be recorded this year, according to researcher Ricardo Hueso, a member of the Planetary Sciences Group at the University of the Basque Country, who has pointed out that a Similar alignment had not occurred since 1623, although it was then more difficult to observe due to the “apparent” closeness of the two objects to the Sun.
Hueso explained that the two planets will get so close that they will appear to observers “as a single bright star instead of as two planets”, and that from Monday they will begin to distance themselves in the night sky, an effect also ” apparent ”since the two planets are in very different orbits.
The president of the Federation of Astronomical Associations of Spain, Blanca Troughton, has emphasized how easy it will be to observe this conjunction with the naked eye, since the two planets stand out among the brightest objects in the night sky.
And although the two planets will show up in the sky as aligned, they will actually be separated by a distance equal to five times the distance between the Earth and the Sun.
Nothing to do with the “star of Bethlehem”
This phenomenon has nothing to do with the “star of Bethlehem”, according to scientists, who have pointed out that there is no evidence that in year 0 there was a similar conjunction of planets.
“We do not know for sure what the star of Bethlehem could have been,” Victoriano Canales, coordinator of the activities of the Federation of Astronomical Associations of Spain and representative of this organization at NASA, has told EFE, and has also ruled out that it was a ” supernova ”(explosion of stars) since the scans made with radio telescopes have not detected any trace of these explosions.
