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Sky spectacle before Christmas: Rare phenomenon - do we even see the Star of Bethlehem?

2020-12-09T14:07:22.976Z


Will we see the star of Bethlehem soon? A rare heavenly spectacle that could be the explanation for the mysterious poinsettia from the Gospel can be observed shortly before Christmas.


Will we see the star of Bethlehem soon?

A rare heavenly spectacle that could be the explanation for the mysterious poinsettia from the Gospel can be observed shortly before Christmas.

Houston - In the Christmas story, the

star of Bethlehem,

 also known as the 

three kings

star

or

poinsettia

 , is considered to be the guide to the birthplace of Jesus Christ.

According to the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men from the Orient found the right way through the comet with the long tail in the year seven before Christ.

But it may have been a

rare heavenly spectacle

that we can witness shortly before Christmas this year.

At least that's what some astrologers think.

Rare celestial phenomenon: “Great conjunction” as an explanation for Star of Bethlehem?

The so-called

“great conjunction”

occurs only every twenty years

.

It denotes the meeting of the planets

Jupiter and Saturn,

which will also take place in 2020 - more precisely on

December 21st.

Reason for the rarity of this constellation: Jupiter orbits the sun in twelve years and Saturn in just under thirty years.

According to studies, however, the planets last came as close as this year on March 4, 1226, i.e. almost 800 years ago.

Patrick Hartigan from Rice University in Houston explains.

And this extremely rare constellation could also be an explanation for the

star of Bethlehem

, so the assumption in the astrology scene.

Star of bethlehem?

Rare heavenly spectacle in December 2020

The convergence of the two planets has been observed for many weeks, Hartigan said in an interview with the Yucatan Times.

From

December 16 to 21, the time

has finally come: Jupiter catches up with Saturn in the constellation Capricorn and the “great conjunction” occurs.

Only at a tiny distance of a fifth of the full moon diameter does it pass south of the ring planet.

Both planets then look like a bright double star.

Jupiter and Saturn: This is how you see the rare planetary encounter

The pair of planets can only be seen

for around an hour after sunset,

deep in the southwestern sky.

Jupiter is the brighter planet, Saturn shows itself in a pale, yellowish light and is noticeably fainter.

Around half past six in the evening, both of them sink under the southwest horizon.

The two giant planets will be joined by

the narrow crescent of

the waxing moon

on

December 17th

, a nice view of the sky around 6 p.m.

The British University of Exeter wants to broadcast the heavenly event of the century live.

🪐The Great Conjunction 2020🪐


In late December 2020, Jupiter and Saturn will be close enough to see both through the same telescope at the same time!

@UoE_Astro and @ExeSciCentre invite you to join them in observing this once in a lifetime eventhttps: //t.co/EW6nDgUHek

- University of Exeter Physics (@UoE_Physics) December 3, 2020

There is also an impressive sky phenomenon to be seen from December 6th to 16th, when the shooting stars of the Geminidenstrom appear.

They are among the biggest swarms of shooting stars of the year.

Nevertheless, they are mostly in the shadow of the much better known Perseids that descend on Earth in summer.

Sky phenomenon will not be observed again until 60 years

According to Hartigan, the next time the two planets will not come so close again until March 15, 2080, i.e. in almost 60 years.

To be able to take a look at the rare sky phenomenon is a

once in

a

lifetime opportunity

.

(va)

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2020-12-09

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