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The two largest planets in our solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, are getting closer than ever before since the Middle Ages, which will happen tomorrow, Monday the 21st, and therefore the phenomenon as “Christmas Star”.
Although it is not a real star, the two planets will be so close together that they will form a joint glow. On the night of December 21, the night of the winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn will appear aligned so close together that they will look like a double planet, something astronomers call a “conjunction.”. The fact that this happens on the winter solstice is pure coincidence, according to NASA.
“The alignments between these two planets are quite rare, they occur once every 20 years or more, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare due to the proximity of the planets,” said astronomer Patrick Hartigan, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice University. (Houston, USA). “We would have to go back just before sunrise on March 4, 1226 to see a closer alignment between these objects in the night sky,” he said.
“This time, if we put a little finger, we can cover the two planets, which means that it is really, really, very close.”
Until December 25, the two planets will get closer and closer, and this can be visible every day about an hour after sunset.
“You can imagine the solar system as a race track, with each of the planets as a runner on its own track and Earth towards the center of the stadium.“said Henry Throop, an astronomer in the Division of Planetary Sciences at NASA Headquarters in Washington.” We will be able to see Jupiter on the inner track, approaching Saturn throughout the month and finally overtaking it on December 21. “
How to observe?
Pedro García, communication technician at OASA (Santana Astronomical Observatory – Azores) explained to Lusa that “They are not only the two largest planets in the solar system, they are also the two largest planets that we can see with the naked eye,” although Venus is “brighter.”
20 years ago, in 2000 -he added- “these two planets were very close, to the point that we could put a little finger between the two, which is more or less a degree in the sky. This time, if we put a little finger, we can cover the two planets, which means it’s really, really, very close. “
The ideal would be to use a telescope, but “with the naked eye” and “in a sky with very little light pollution and on a night with good weather conditions, it will be possible to see the two planets so close together that it will appear as one”.
Binoculars, which “can even be fun,” can help too. “If the binoculars are of any size, 50×70, they will already be able to see the moons of Jupiter and realize that Saturn has ‘ears’, which are the rings,” the technician guarantees.
The phenomenon occurs around 6:30 p.m. In mainland Portugal (5:30 pm In the Azores) but Pedro García warns that the phenomenon will begin to follow from 4:30 pm. M. (3:30 p.m. In the Azores). “Starting at 7 pm (6 pm in mainland Portugal), the objects (planets) will touch the horizon and disappear overnight.
As for its position, “the object will be seen in the southwest. After the sun sets, more or less in the same position,” he adds.
As Christmas approaches, and on the day of the winter solstice, this alignment takes on special relevance, since there are those who compare it to the star that guided the Magi.
“As long as people have a good view of the sea, in the southwest, without mountains or houses in front, or utility poles with light pollution, they will easily see this phenomenon,” he guarantees.
The two planets will form a point that will resemble a star. Pedro García clarifies that “one of the ways in which we perceive that it is not a star is because it does not shine, because the planets do not shine in the sky, but a very bright point will appear in the sky.”
With the approach of Christmas, and the day of the winter solstice, this alignment takes on special relevance, since there are those who compare it with the star that guided the Magi: the astronomer and mathematician Johannes Kepler, in the seventeenth century ”. suggested that what is described of the star of Bethlehem was a conjunction, but it does not seem to me that it is any of that, mainly because the effect will not be similar to the description of the star of Bethlehem “, demystifies.
Enjoy it because this phenomenon will only happen again in about 60 years, in 2080, and, perhaps, this could be the last chance for many people ”.
Symbolism aside, the advice is that “whoever can do this [observar a conjunção], do it “.
Enjoy it because this phenomenon will only happen again in about 60 years, in 2080, and, perhaps, this could be the last chance for many people ”, says the official.
Despite being closed that day, OASA will stream images of this event online. But the technician reinforces: “I’ll be honest, these videos can be seen later, on the internet, what I advise is that, if the weather is good, go outside, use your cell phone, and you will see the phenomenon.”
For astronomers around the world there is one certainty: there is no better way to celebrate the longest night of the year than to look at the sky, and this time the sky will provide something that has never been seen and will never be seen while we are alive. : the conjunction of the two largest planets in the system aloner.
