A Christmas Star Will Light Up The New Jersey Sky For The First Time In Centuries

December is the time to keep your eyes on the skies over New Jersey! There will be several celestial events to enjoy but the star of the show has to be the rare and brilliant "Christmas Star." It's a once-in-a-lifetime planetary conjunction that hasn't been seen in centuries.

A planetary conjunction occurs when "two planets have either the same right ascension or the same ecliptic longitude, usually as observed from Earth." In layman's terms, it means that they appear close together.

Planetary conjunctions as a whole are not incredibly rare, but the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs just once every twenty years.

This year, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer together in the night sky than they have in centuries.

Jupiter and Saturn are the largest planets in our solar system and when they align on December 21st, they'll create the appearance of a massive "double planet."

This conjunction will appear to be the brightest star in the sky. Conjunctions of this magnitude have not been observed since 1623 and you'd have to go all the way back to 1226 to see these planets any closer. The next time we'll get to experience this conjunction isn't too far off - it will likely occur again in 2080.

This phenomenon is referred to as the Christmas Star or Star of Bethlehem because it is said that a similar conjunction of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus is what guided the Three Wise Men.

The conjunction can be observed anywhere skies are clear (even cities) for about an hour after sunset on the Winter Solstice, December 21st. Look to the western sky (southwest, specifically) and you can't miss it. 2020 has been quite a year but at least we'll be ending it with an astronomical gift!