A Christmas Star Will Light Up The Nevada Sky For The First Time In Centuries
2020 has definitely been a stressful year, but it looks like it’ll be ending with some extra magic for the holiday season. On the evening of the winter solstice this month, a rare astronomical event will occur in which a “Christmas Star” will appear. The Christmas Star isn’t actually a star, but the two largest planets of the solar system coming together. Read on to learn all about this unique event and what it means!
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The two planets of Jupiter and Saturn align with each other about every 20 years, but this year will be the absolute closest they've gotten to each other in 800 years.
That's right, the last time a Jupiter-Saturn conjunction like this occurred was in the Middle Ages! The unique celestial event will take place this year on the evening of December 21, 2020.
The two planets will be so close together that they'll appear to be one giant star. You won't need any special gear to view it. All you have to do is look up shortly after sunset with your naked eye.
The phenomenon is being referred to as a "Christmas Star" in part due to its close proximity to the popular Christian holiday. Some researchers also theorize that the Star of Bethlehem that was seen by the Three Wise Men was, in fact, a super rare conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus. Pretty neat!
This is the definition of a once-in-a-lifetime event. You would have to go all the way back to March 4, 1226 to see anything like it. A conjunction like this won't happen again until March 15, 2080.
The Christmas Star will only be visible for about an hour after sunset on December 21, so be sure to mark your calendars! This is definitely something you can't miss.
