JUPITER and Saturn came closer together last night than at any other time in the past 400 years.
Cloudy weather ruined the once-in-a-lifetime event for many stargazers in the UK but luckily photographers all over the world were able to capture stunning snaps.
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The planets won’t be aligning closely again until 2080.
It’s an event known as the ‘Great Conjunction’.
The planets appeared together low on the southwesterly horizon just after dark and were so bright that they could be seen from most cities.
With the naked eye they looked like one star.
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Some people are referring to the event as the forming of a “Christmas Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”, while others thought it meant the apocalypse was coming.
Despite looking close with the naked eye, Jupiter and Saturn remained 450 million miles apart in space.
The last time stargazers could observe this event was back in the Middle Ages on March 4, 1226.
The two planets did also come very close together in the 1600s but this wasn’t said to be visible from Earth.
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Sometimes the ‘Great Conjunction’ happens during the day so isn’t visible and a conjunction can occur around every 20 years but isn’t always as close.
From Earth the plants looked around 0.06º away from each other.
That’s about 1/5 of the diameter of a full Moon.
According to Astrology.com, some astrologists believe Jupiter and Saturn coming close together leads to old forms dying and new growth beginning.
How far away is Jupiter from Earth?
Learn how long it takes to get the largest planet in the solar system…
- At the closest point in their respective orbits, Jupiter and Earth are around 365 million miles apart.
- But because neither planet spins around the sun in a perfect circle, nor at the same speed, this number fluctuates dramatically.
- When they are furthest apart the planets are 601 million miles apart, more than two thirds farther away than they are at their nearest.
- As it is further away Jupiter takes 11.86 Earth-years to complete one orbit of the sun.
- While we travel around our star we catch up with the gas Giant once every 399 days, causing the gas giant to appear to travel backwards in the night sky.
LOST IN SPACE
Great Conjunction as it happened: Watch how Jupiter & Saturn ‘nearly touched’
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‘STAR IN THE EAST’
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WATCH THIS SPACE
Jupiter and Saturn Great Conjunction: Nasa gives tips on how to watch
WONDER STAR
How to see Star of Bethlehem – first Jupiter and Saturn alignment in 800 YEARS
In other space news, dead alien civilisations could be littered all over our galaxy, according to a new study.
Alien hunting astronomers are investigating a strange radio wave emission that seems to have come from a nearby star.
And, ESA researchers think they’ve spotted an angel on Mars.
What are your thoughts on the Great Conjunction? Let us know in the comments…
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
