Who's a sky watcher? Who's a star gazer? Who's an amateur astronomer?

Submitted by: Joseph Grisafi Jr

 Who's a sky watcher? Who's a star gazer? Who's an amateur astronomer?

The "Christmas Star" will be the closest visible conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 800 years. The two giant planets of our solar system draw closer together in the night sky than they have been in centuries.

December 21, 2020, the winter solstice, which is the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere will show these two planets in the south western sky.

The last time the two planets were so close was 1623, but the conditions at the time made the event not visible. Before that, 1226, the pair were observable to the naked eye, according to EarthSky.

Between 12/15 and 12/18 you can see both planets moving in conjunction by looking toward the moon in the western sky 45 minutes after sunset.

The further north you live the harder it is to see because it's just above the horizon. But here in Houston it will be higher and easier to see.

For astronomers this is a big event. For anyone who knows anything about our galaxy it should be a big event. Things like this don't happen every day or every hundred years.

Our three planets will almost be aligned with each other.

Jupiter is 484 million miles from the sun. It orbits the sun every 11.86 earth years and has 63+ moons.

Saturn is 887 million miles from the sun. It orbits the sun every 29.46 earth years and has 61+ moons.

Some tidbits: If someone standing on Jupiter flashed the beam of a flashlight at earth and you were looking, you would not see that beam of light for 45 minutes.

If someone standing on Saturn did the same thing you would not see the beam of light for 80 minutes.

Numbers amaze me. The diameter of our galaxy is around 100,000 light years and about 1000 light years thick. Calculate those miles. We've all heard of the Andromeda Galaxy. Did you know that it is 2.5 million light years away? Holy crap. Calculate those miles. BTW: our galaxy and the Andromeda Galaxy are on a collision course. Yup, it's true. Some day in the distant future we will collide.

I know were I'll be on December 21st - telescope, warm coffee, coat, and an easy chair.

Happy watching.

Joe