FLORIDA — A once-in-a-lifetime celestial event, centuries in the making, is almost here and it will soon shine bright in the night sky.
What You Need To Know
- A "Christmas Star" will be seen on December 21 for the first time since the 1600s
- The star is actually Saturn and Jupiter lining up so closely that they look like one heavenly body
- It will be so bright that you will be able to see the "Christmas Star" with binoculars
"It's a remarkable phenomenon, an astronomical phenomenon," said Florida Tech grad student Ramanakumar Sanker.
And it involves Sanker's favorite planet: Jupiter.
His studies involve learning and researching about the giant planet's atmosphere.
But in a few days, the buzz will be about where Jupiter's orbit takes it around the Sun, and it's neighbor Saturn.
"Four hundred years ago it was behind the Sun, so no one could see it," he said. "So the last time people saw this was 800 years ago."
He's talking about the "Christmas Star," where the two planets come so close as viewed from Earth that they appear as a very bright light in the night sky.
Jupiter and Saturn align every twenty years, but this view hasn't been seen since the days of the earliest astronomers in the 1600's.
"In reality they are still thousands and thousands of miles apart, but from our point of view they actually look like a binary star," said Florida Tech Olin Observatory Director Saida Caballero-Nieves.
The once in a lifetime opportunity is something Caballero-Nieves hopes her students, space enthusiasts, and future astronomers will grab onto when the event happens December 21.
"You can see it with binoculars, or if you have a small telescope you might be able to get Jupiter and Saturn in your field of view," says Caballero-Nieves.
This "great conjunction," as scientists call it, is perfect for Sanker, who wants to go into the astronomy field.
And for him this type of chance to see a "bright spot" in a year of lows couldn't time out better.
"It's nice this is one thing that can bring it all together, around the world," he said.
The next time the Christmas Star will be visible from Earth is in the year 2080.
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December 09, 2020 at 10:57AM
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"Christmas Star" to be Seen in the Sky for the First Time Since the 1600s - Bay News 9
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