Jupiter & Saturn To Appear As ‘Christmas Star’ For First Time In 400 Years

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah –  Get ready to see the “Christmas Star” — a show from Jupiter and Saturn that hasn’t been seen in nearly 400 years.

Normally, Patrick Wiggins, NASA’s solar system ambassador to Utah, would be excited to have people come to the Stansbury Park Observatory in Tooele County to see the cosmic event.

However, the coronavirus pandemic has ruined yet another opportunity.

“We haven’t done anything for the public at the observatory all year,” said Wiggins.

No star parties. No comet viewings. Nothing.

My @KSL5TV colleague @TVNewsAngieReed has been taking pictures of Jupiter and Saturn getting closer together for a few months now. This coming Monday, they'll be closer than they have been in 400 years and form a bright looking star. We're doing a story on this for @KSL5TV at 6. pic.twitter.com/3uKSVFGUQZ

— Alex Cabrero (@KSL_AlexCabrero) December 18, 2020

“We’ve had star parties every year until this year,” said Wiggins. “It’s really unfortunate. But on the upside, you don’t need a telescope to see this.”

You might have already noticed what he’s talking about.

“It’s a naked eye event,” Wiggins said.

For the past few months, near the moon at night, you can see Jupiter and Saturn getting closer.

This Monday, Dec. 21, they’ll appear closer than they have in nearly 400 years.

“It’s a rare event. I’ve been cautioning people don’t expect a really flashy event,” said Wiggins. “But it’s something that doesn’t happen that often. The last time was in 1623.”

Since the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, as Wiggins called it, will happen so close to Christmas, many people are calling this event the “Christmas Star.”

That’s also why Wiggins cautioned expectations.

“It’s going to be fairly bright, but it’s not going to be like what people think of in Biblical terms,” he said.

The conjunction will happen in the southwest part of the sky. However, it could be tricky to see for those who are near western mountains because it will be low along the horizon.

“There’s already people I know I’ve heard from and they’re planning on going out to the Salt Flats because they get a nice flat horizon out there,” said Wiggins.

If you miss this one, the next conjunction of these two planets will be about 60 years from now, which means some people could see it twice in their lifetime.

“If you take your kid out to look at this event, have them draw a picture or something and keep it because they’re probably going to be around in 60 years,” said Wiggins. “They’ll be able to bring out this little paper that they drew when they were a little kid back in 2020 and say ‘hey, look what I did way back then and you’re getting to see it now.’”

Wiggins loves talking about astronomy.

He also enjoys the feeling you get when looking at something in the sky that doesn’t happen very often.

“It’s a rare event. And how often can you go out and say, ‘Hey, I’m looking at something that no one alive today has ever seen before?’” he said.

It’s good to feel small every now and then.