Stargazers are in for a very rare treat on Monday. If the clouds cooperate, they鈥檒l be able to see the 鈥淏ethlehem Star鈥� 鈥� an event that hasn鈥檛 been seen in about 800 years.
The moniker applies to the Christian description of the 鈥淏ethlehem鈥� or 鈥淐hristmas Star鈥� that was said to have appeared in the night sky at the birth of Jesus Christ. But for the moment it refers to the lining up of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, which from Earth鈥檚 perspective will appear almost like one very bright star on Monday, Dec. 21.
鈥淚t’s pretty rare for Jupiter and Saturn to get as close as that in the sky. Every 20 years they are sort-of close when Jupiter passes Saturn in the sky, but every so often at one of those passages they get really close, like what’ll happen on Monday,鈥� says Yan Fernandez, a professor of physics and astronomy at 麻豆原创 and director of the .
The gap between Jupiter and Saturn on Monday evening will be just a fraction of the width of the full moon. The planets won鈥檛 blend into one, but they will come close enough to make for a spectacular view, either with the naked-eye or through binoculars or a telescope. You will need to look low in the southwestern part of the sky soon after sunset to catch the pair.
Fernandez says December is already a great month for stargazing. The Geminid meteor shower arrived last week, Mars tops the sky all month, and the famous winter constellations 鈥撀� such as Orion, Taurus, and Canis Major 鈥� with their many bright stars are spread across the eastern sky in the evening.
The Geminid meteor shower occur every December, but it peaked in the wee hours of Dec. 13-14 this year. This is when meteors dance across the sky and appear like white fast streaks of light originating from a common place in the sky, in this case the constellation Gemini. During its peak you can observe up to 50 meteors per hour, assuming there are no clouds and the light pollution is minimal. Even those without a telescope or binoculars can see these meteors, and in fact optical aids are pretty much useless because the meteors appear so quickly and in any part of the sky.
Mars also appears as a bright orange light all month long. It is high overhead soon after sunset and is one of the brightest objects in the night sky right now. And it will be a fixture of our evening sky for months to come.
If you live in an area that has just too much light pollution, you can also check out pictures online. One of the images you鈥檒l find on the is that of the unusual centaur P/2019 LD2 (ATLAS), also known as LD2. A centaur is a solar system object that behaves like a comet and an asteroid. Centaurs are fast-moving icy objects with unstable orbits found between Jupiter and Neptune.
A team of 麻豆原创 researchers is responsible for capturing the image and publishing a journal article about it, which was featured in The New York Times earlier this month. The image captures the centaur during its transition to a comet.
The 麻豆原创 team members include Fernandez, as well as Florida Space Institute post-doctoral researcher Charles Schambeau and Planetary Scientist聽Maria Womack.
