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While it has been a terrible year in many ways, 2020 has had some impressive astronomical events. Remember Comet NEOWISE? Or when Betelgeuse went dark in the night skies? Those were just some of the heavenly highlights as we circled the sun for these 366 days (it was also a leap year).
So now, with only 10 short days left for the year to come to a conclusion that many people will enjoy, we will be treated to no fewer than three astronomical occurrences on the same day: a grand alignment of the largest planets in our solar system, the winter solstice and a meteor shower in full swing.
Jupiter and Saturn line up in the night sky.
Some call it the Christmas star. But they are actually two gas giants, Jupiter and Saturn, the most powerful worlds in our solar system, that appear to line up in the night sky.
The two planets will be separated by a tenth of an angular degree, or about the thickness of a dime held at arm’s length, according to NASA.
All you need to enjoy it are your eyes and a clear night sky; No fancy telescopes or binoculars are required, although they will help you if you want to make out Saturn’s rings or some of Jupiter’s heavier moons.
Read more about how to enjoy this “great conjunction” here:
The Earth moves away from the sun at the winter solstice.
The good news: the days get longer from now on.
The Bad: If the sun sets too early, this will be a long and short Monday.
It already feels like winter in much of the Northern Hemisphere, especially after the Northeast last week. But the winter solstice is something of the official start of the season, as this side of the planet leans as far from the sun as possible during its annual journey around the star.
The solstice means more time to enjoy the night sky. It is also a good time to reflect on the gradual movement of our planet one way or another as it rotates. Other worlds in our solar system have much more extreme solstices than we experience, and life as we know it may be impossible without our planet’s particular tilt.
One last decent meteor shower.
Earth goes through numerous meteor showers as it travels around the sun. Some can be really amazing. But many are too dark to be seen without specialized equipment.
Still, with the Ursids peaking Monday night until sunrise on Tuesday, you might have a decent chance. They are the remains of a comet, 8P / Tuttle, and are not known for offering the most spectacular spectacle in the night skies, compared to other showers like the recent Geminids.
But if you are enjoying the courtship of Jupiter and Saturn in the night sky, maybe stay up a bit later and try to observe a fireball or two. Robert Lunsford of the International Meteor Organization, which forecasts the annual activity of the meteor shower, wrote in a post last week that Ursids could be more active in 2020 than in previous years.
