Jupiter and Saturn will appear alongside each other in Irish skies later this month – the closet that the two planets have been to one another in several hundred years. So, you’re definitely not going to want to miss it.
People will have their eyes on the sky for many reasons this month – keeping a lookout for Santa’s sleigh being one, trying to spot a unique Christmas star being another. Due to appear in Irish skies for the first time in almost 400 years, the rare astronomical phenomenon will ve visible on December 21st this month.
Coinciding with the 2020 winter solstice, the unique sighting is the result of planets Jupiter and Saturn appearing to merge (almost collide) together. Here’s how the NASA website described it:
“Jupiter and Saturn have been travelling across the sky together all year, but this month, get ready for them to really put on a show. Over the first three weeks of December, watch each evening as the two planets get closer in the sky than they’ve appeared in two decades. Look for them low in the southwest in the hour after sunset. And on December 21st, the two giant planets will appear just a tenth of a degree apart.”
The two planets and their moons will be visible in the same field of view, you should be able to see them without the help of binoculars or a small telescope – though it probably wouldn’t hurt if you had either one close at hand.
Known as a “great conjunction”, these events generally occur every 20 years but, according to NASA, this is the “greatest” great conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn for the next 60 years, with the two planets not due to appear this close together until 2080.
Spotting a rare Christmas star would be a fairly magical way to end the year if you ask me.
Header image via Shutterstock
