When I ran/walked 300 miles in July, I started about 3:45 each morning, which meant I admired the night sky as it changed over the month. I knew I was looking at planets among the stars, but I didn’t know which ones, so I downloaded a stargazing app.
Along with Venus and Mars, which I expected to see, I learned that Jupiter and Saturn were close to each other and quite bright. It turns out these two planets hang out in the sky together every 19.6 years because of their orbit. However, tonight (December 21), they will be closer than normal.
It’s not accurate to say the two planets will be closer together since they are still millions of miles apart. However, from the Earth’s point of view, they will be within 1/5 of the moon’s diameter to each other. This has not happened since March 4, 1226, and won’t happen again until March 15, 2080.
Some think that these two planets will be so close together that they will look like one bright star; thus, it has gotten the nickname, the Christmas Star. However, no one alive today has ever seen this planetary conjunction, so we won’t know until it happens this evening.
Depending on where you live and how good your eyesight is, you might see one bright object or two separate planets. I won’t see anything because it’s raining at my house, so I’ll have to see the pictures people share.
If you want to learn more about this rare planetary event, check out this article in EarthSky. It’s amazing what our solar system does. And if you have a telescope and clear skies, tonight is an ideal time to view many of Jupiter’s and Saturn’s moon together.