[ad_1]
Status: December 22, 2020 9:01 pm
The director of the Neumünster observatory has been watching Jupiter and Saturn approach for days. One theory is that the so-called Great Conjunction could have been the “Star of Bethlehem.”
by Kai Peuckert
The light of a bicycle makes its way into the darkness. The dirt road on the outskirts of Neumünster has no public lighting. The cyclist consciously chose this place. Here you have the best view of the sky. The rider is Marco Ludwig, director of the Neumünster observatory. He takes his two cameras and various lenses out of his bicycle’s children’s trailer, which he has converted into a luggage rack. For days, Ludwig has always been drawn to a dark place on the outskirts of the city just before 5pm, because the observatory is closed due to the crown. There he tries to observe the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, the two largest planets in our solar system, in the open air. “The two have been dancing around each other since the summer. And on the winter solstice they get closer to each other,” said Ludwig, commenting on the approaching planets.
A closed cloud cover
In the last days, some nights were clear. Marco Ludwig was able to make impressive videos and photographs. Today there is a cloud cover with only a few gaps. He still wants to try to see the planets. If the clouds break in the right place in the southwest, to the right of the moon, Jupiter and Saturn will look like a bright star to the naked eye. “There is the moon,” suddenly shouts the stargazer. “Now I’m optimistic again that I’ll be able to see something today.”
Only the orbits intersect
It is the optimism of a man who has flown to the other side of the world in search of the best view of astronomical events. Like many celestial phenomena, the great conjunction is a phenomenon of perspective. The orbits of the planets intersect as seen from Earth. “In space, Jupiter and Saturn are separated by almost 750 million kilometers. For comparison: the distance from the sun to the earth is only 150 million kilometers,” explains Ludwig. But it’s not just the day of the closest approach that is an event: unlike a lunar or solar eclipse, the meeting of Saturn and Jupiter slowly accumulates and then decreases again. It impressed the people of Neumünster and also astronomers around the world for several days.
More information
Was the conjunction the “Star of Bethlehem”?
German astronomer Johannes Kepler, who discovered the laws of the solar system, also saw a large conjunction about 400 years ago, reports the head of the observatory, while Neumünster’s Regional Express 7 rushes north into view. “And he made calculations that a great conjunction also took place a good 2,000 years ago. So it may be that this phenomenon was the” Star of Bethlehem “that the Magi followed to the manger with the Baby Jesus.”
The phenomenon can be seen for a few minutes.
Shortly after 6pm, Marco Ludwig stores his gear in his children’s trailer. “The planets have already set again. It is typical for Schleswig-Holstein that important astronomical events can be seen for up to a few minutes,” he says. Ludwig gets on his bike and drives home on the cloudy night. In the next few days he will look for a dark place on the outskirts of Neumünster. Because you know: you will no longer see Jupiter and Saturn as close together as you do right now. According to Ludwig, that won’t happen again for 60 years.
A short time later, Marco Ludwig receives the first photos on his cell phone from friends of his astronomers, from Rostock and Rome. You were luckier. And who knows: maybe it really is the poinsettia in the photos.
More information
