About 45 minutes after sunset on December 21, if you look to the southwest, you will witness something that has not been seen in the night sky since the Middle Ages.
Jupiter and Saturn will align to become one very bright point of light, known as the “Christmas Star” or “Star of Bethlehem.”
Patrick Hartigan, astronomer at Rice University told Forbes, “Alignments between these two planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so, but this conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how close the planets will appear to be to one another.”
Hartigan also noted that “You’d have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.”
This very rare event can be seen anywhere on earth as long as the skies are clear, and while Dec 21st is the best viewing, they will be visible all week.
Mark your calendars for this one, kids. The next “great conjuction” this close to earth won’t happen until 2080.
