In a year that has been unlike any other, our earth’s sky will display a visual symbol of the hope we hear in the Christmas story. On December 21st, Jupiter and Saturn will orbit close to Earth and appear as one giant star. This alignment is also rare, having occurred in 1623 but actually last seen on March 4th, 1226! According to the NASA website, “Look for them low in the southwest in the hour after sunset.”
The Great Conjunction
The astronomy world calls this event between Jupiter and Saturn a ‘great conjunction’ as the two planets overlap each other in their separate orbits. According to a Huffington Post article, Nahum Arav, physics professor at Virginia Tech, states this rare event is “special because of how bright the planets will be and how close they get to each other in the sky… about 1/5 of the moon’s diameter.” Although appearing close, the distance between the two planets is still 450 million miles!
Get your cameras ready!
Southwest sky
Alan Duffy, the lead scientist at the Royal Institution of Australia, states, “For those who are in the business of taking pretty pictures, you probably want to snap them a little earlier,” he said. Duffy offers instructions to look for ‘two dots that, unlike stars, do not twinkle: a pure white dot for Jupiter and one with more of a golden hue for Saturn’.
‘I can tell you what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown’
Linus from Charlie Brown Christmas, gives one of the most endearing Christmas story narrations. This familiar Christian account of the Christ child’s birth is found in Luke Chapter Two. But nowhere is mentioned the famous star! However, in the Bible’s Book of Matthew, the story of the Magi following the Bethlehem Star is clearly described. Some Biblical scholars speculate if this star was a result of the conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn and Mars in 6 B.C.
A coming star…
Interestingly, the Old Testament also references a ‘coming star’: A sorcerer by the name of Baalam, at King Balak’s request, gave four oracles intending to curse Israel in the early 1400’s B.C. Instead, he blessed Israel and predicted, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near; A star will come out of Jacob.” Numbers 24:17(referencing the future coming of Jesus Christ).
Looking Upward
So, no matter what scientific or spiritual thoughts may come to mind, we can look up on December 21st in awe and wonder. This once in a lifetime moment will no doubt put a little perspective and context to this tiny speck of our planet called Earth. And no matter what dark moments 2020 may have held, we look forward with joy and to a bright tomorrow!
Yes! I want to look for this:) thanks for sharing