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The star of Bethlehem, according to the current position of astronomers, was actually created by the coexistence of two planets, Jupiter and Saturn.
The two largest planets in the Solar System, Jupiter and Saturn, have not been as close together for 800 years as they will be now at Christmas, astronomers say.
The two gas giants will gradually get closer together in the winter sky, until they will finally be seen as a “star” with the naked eye on December 21. The phenomenon will be observed quite low on the horizon in Hungary after sunset, in a southwesterly direction.
At its closest position, the full moon will be roughly half the distance from each other, and will remain roughly that way until Christmas Day.
As early as the 17th century, Johannes Kepler believed that the source of the Star of Bethlehem story may have been the coexistence of Jupiter and Saturn. Others believed that the sages of the East could follow the triple coexistence of three planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.
Although Venus will not be part of the coexistence now, it will nevertheless be a spectacular phenomenon in the sky, especially around the equator, but it will be visible anywhere in the world.
“The proximity of the two planets is a pretty rare event, occurring roughly every 20 years,” says Patrick Hartigan, an astronomer at Rice University in Houston.
“It was not until March 4, 1226, that such a close coexistence of planets was observed in the dawn sky,” said the astronomer.
Until March 15, 2080, Jupiter and Saturn will not be that close again. And the next similar coincidence happens after 2400, so the phenomenon is definitely worth looking at if we get a chance to do so.
“On the night of December 21, the two planets will appear at a distance equal to 1/5 of the full moon, almost merging,” says Professor Hartigan.
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