An event not seen for nearly 800 years, will light up the sky next week.
NASA reports that the two largest planets in the solar system will arrive in a “great connection” in time for Christmas. It is the same day as the winter solstice.
What has become known as the “Christmas Star” is a combination of living planets that are easily visible in the evening sky over the next two weeks, as the brightest planets Jupiter and Saturn come together, ending on the night of December 21st. Said on its website.
On Monday, Jupiter and Saturn will come closer and closer to each other, according to Space.com. The two planets rarely come together like other bright planets.
Jim Todd, OMSI’s director of space education, said people in the Portland area want to get out just after sunset at 4:30 p.m., when Jupiter and Saturn will be low in the sky. The planets will quickly descend below the horizon, Todd said, so a good view of the southwest horizon is essential, and people will need to look to the sky in a timely manner to catch it.
The weather in Portland will not look favorable with a 70-80% chance of rain and a mostly cloudy Monday forecast.
For those who want to see the phenomenon for themselves, NASA says, here’s what to do:
- Find an unobstructed view of the sky like a field or a park. Jupiter and Saturn are bright, so they can be seen from most cities as well.
- An hour after sunset, look up at the southwest sky. Jupiter will look like a bright star and appear easily. By December 21st Saturn will be slightly obscured and the left side of Jupiter will appear slightly upwards, while Jupiter will overtake it and they will reverse the position in the sky.
- The planets can be seen with the undated eye, but if you have a telescope or a small telescope, you can see the four large moons of Jupiter around the giant planet.
The two planets converge every 20 years, but they are not always the same. The closest Jupiter-Saturn pair will be Monday from July 1623, when the two planets appear a little closer. This connection was almost impossible to see, however, due to its proximity to the sun.
The two planets were united in March 1226, closely and plainly, when Churchis Khan conquered Asia. Monday’s pairing will be the closest pair to appear since then.
Saturn will begin to feel small, dizzy in the upper right of a very bright Jupiter. Despite the appearance, Jupiter and Saturn will actually be 450 million miles (730 million kilometers) apart. In the meantime, Earth will be 550 million miles (890 million kilometers) away from Jupiter.
“On the 21st, they will appear so close that a pink finger at arm’s length will easily cover both planets in the sky.” Said NASA. “It will be easier for the planets to look to the southwest after sunset with a supporting eye.”
The best way to catch a glimpse of a rare event is to watch it after about an hour of sunset, according to NASA. The planets are visible to the naked eye.
“Jupiter will look like a bright star and look smooth,” NASA said. “Saturn will be a little obscure and by December 21 the left side of Jupiter will appear slightly upwards and towards Jupiter, while Jupiter will overtake it and they will reverse the position in the sky.”
The next time they come together in the sky, it won’t come for 60 years, so for many this will be a lifelong event. In fact, the last time they met was in the year 1623, but it was really hard to see, if not impossible, then they should be seen because they came so close to the sun and then moved on immediately. . Go back another 400 years in 1200 and this would have been the last time we would have had a good look at this kind of connection.
What advice would you give to those who want to see a great connection?
If you have a pair of telescopes, you can easily find both planets. Even in a small telescope, you will see both planets simultaneously in the same eclipse field, which is not really heard. This is what makes this connection so rare.
If the weather in the Dyer Observatory allows, a live stream of connection will come from one of the observer’s binoculars.
Winter ions in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest night of the year – and summer ions in the Southern Hemisphere – and this time-for-Christmas-grandeur are promised to be one of the great connections.
“The rarest is a close connection that occurs in our night sky,” said David Weintraub, a professor of astronomy at Wonderbilt University. “I think it’s fair to say that such an event can usually only happen once in a person’s lifetime, and I think ‘once in my lifetime’ is a good thing whether it’s a special or special label. Are given.”
Their next super-closing pair: March 15, 2080.
– Kansas City Star, Associated Press, Conversation
