The Christmas Star can be observed tonight.

[sidd finch]

The winter solstice and the first day of winter also brings The Christmas Star. Four days before Christmas, the sky will offer a sight that hasn't been seen since the Middle Ages and may have inspired one of the Bible's most famous stories. The two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, will be so close to one another in the sky on Dec. 21 that they will appear to be fused into a single point of light.

The last time this is believed to have been witnessed was in the year 1226, according to Michael Shanahan, the director of the Liberty Science Center Planetarium in New Jersey. "The interesting thing about these long cycles in astronomy is that they come back at very different epochs of human history. "The event that happened in the Middle Ages in 1226 occurred before dawn, so there was about an hour and a half before the sun rose to see it."

The last time astronomers believe it was possibly visible was in 1623, but it occurred right at sunset and Shanahan said there is no record of anyone having noticed it because the two planets were lost in the light of the setting sun. There also has been speculation that the conjunction of the planets formed the "Christmas Star" or Star of Bethlehem that the three wise men in the Nativity story in the Bible were thought to have seen that inspired them to ultimately travel to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus.

Get you night cameras ready...

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

Not at our place - full cloud cover here

[sidd finch]

Well bummer Dave. We have has some clear skies and so I was able to observe it Friday night, but tonight it should be much closer. If I can get a half way decent picture I will try to post it.

I also have been using an app called Star Walk with my smartphone. You select Planets and then raise the phone to the heavens and it will point out where the conjuncture is in the sky. I was also able to visually see it but the app confirmed I was looking in the right place.

Sidd

[sidd finch]

Well I tried but it really only looks like a speck...

Sidd

[Dave McElderry]

Sorry to break this to ya Sidd, but that’s your neighbor going to his outhouse with a flashlight....

[sidd finch]

Dave you might be right. I thought the star moved a bit too much in the sky...

Sidd

[TreeTopsRanch]

Too cloudy here also.

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

Sidd, is it that little dot above the 'i' in Christmas?

[sidd finch]

Sidd, is it that little dot above the 'i' in Christmas?

John I think my picture is pretty much indistinguishable from this shot. They almost look like the same picture to me.



sidd

[RJ Johnston]

It was too cloudy here, also. But I did run Stellarium in real time and saw it that way. I'm sure that's what the shepherds used.