‘Christmas star’ to illuminate the sky in December for the first time in 800 years

Dec.

That’s right, during the upcoming winter solstice, Jupiter and Saturn form what is known as the “Christmas Star” or “Bethlehem Star”.

These two planets have not appeared (relatively) together from Earth’s position since the Middle Ages.

“Alignments between these two planets are very rare, occurring once every 20 years, but this connection is very rare because of how close the planets appear to each other,” said Patrick Hardigan, an astronomer at Rice University. Told Forbes. “At dawn on March 4, 1226, you must go back to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky.”

Starcasters in the Northern Hemisphere must turn their heads and telescopes to the southwest about 45 minutes after sunset to see the planets align on December 21st. However, you can see the views throughout the week.

According to Forbes, Stellar vision of this magnitude will not occur again until 2080.