Christmas Star Appears

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I thought some of you may want to view this star of historic proportions. It was last viewed 800 yrs ago and can be seen again tonight. It is two planets aligned next to each other. I hope Kenny will not think I am promoting religion. I am excited to see the historical context of the first Christmas. I have wondered about the bright light. I'm so excited, I'm calling people. I hope its wondrous!

Love Annette

 

[Ally T]

We can see it here in the UK currently. It's the rare alignment of Saturn & Jupiter.

 

[dk168]

No chance to see this due to being cloudy with rain all evening where I live in UK, hey ho!

DK

 

[Tartansparkles]

I can't see it either, had a look but it's too cloudy.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

It was clody last night after a week of clear skies
Its overcast now - i think rain is forcast for most of the rest of the week
Good for farmers and gardeners but not for sky watchers

 

[Cluless]

Was too cloudy here also, maybe tomorrow?

Keep watching the skies as Jupiter and Saturn continue their spectacular display - The Weather Network

The Great Conjunction may be over, but Jupiter and Saturn aren't done showing off.

www.theweathernetwork.com

 

[Missy]

Not my photos but cool photos nonetheless. Hope you enjoy!


Saturn and Jupiter with the four Galilean moons...Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io. So cool.



















FYI:

"This so-called “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn occurs every 19.85 years. That’s because Jupiter takes 11.86 years to orbit the Sun and Saturn 29.4 years, so they must sometimes appear to pass each other in our night sky from Earth’s point of view. However, the event occurs in the same part of the sky only every 800 years or so.

Monday’s event was the closest “great conjunction” since July 16, 1623 and the first to be easily observable since March 4, 1226.

The two worlds now won’t appear to meet up again until 2040, though that year’s conjunction will be farther apart. A conjunction is an apparent passing of two or more celestial bodies, but a “great conjunction” refers only to Jupiter and Saturn.

Although it’s being called the “great conjunction” and the “Christmas Star,” this celestial event is more accurately termed an “appulse.” An appulse is defined as the least apparent distance between one celestial object and another, as seen from a third body.

So what’s actually going on in the Solar System during the “great conjunction?” “You can imagine the Solar System to be a racetrack, with each of the planets as a runner in their own lane and the Earth toward the center of the stadium,” said Henry Throop, astronomer in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “From our vantage point, we can see Jupiter on the inside lane, approaching Saturn all month and finally overtaking it on December 21.

The two planets are going to appear super-close for the rest of December before sinking into the Sun’s glare by mid-January."

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

It was cloudy where I live as well, so I didn't see my Star. I was so disappointed. But, from reading it seems that this conjunction was probably not what we think of as the Star of Bethlehem. I was thinking how neat to be able to sort of place myself in history and imagine the Magi trekking to find the baby Jesus. If Mathew embellished the story a bit. some dramatic license is forgiven for such a wonderful story.

Annette

 

[Missy]

Our friend A took these photos.



He’s in SC.