Joy to the World, The Christmas Star returns after 800 years!!
THE CHRISTMAS STAR
When my son asked me about the Christmas Star that
is coming this December I realized that I had “forsaken my first love” for some
time. He knew that I am passionately interested in the stars and planets and have
always been aware of the unusual, beautiful, and amazing things we can see in
the sky. But this coming event slipped me!
On December 4, 2020 CBN News reported that a rare event
would take place on December 21. The “Christmas Star” or the “Star of
Bethlehem” would appear in the sky. The “Star” had not been seen in
almost eight centuries - not since the Middle Ages, not since July 16, 1623.
On the day that marks the beginning of the Winter
Solstice, Monday December 21, 2020, Jupiter and Saturn the two largest
planets in our Solar system “will align. They will appear to form a double
planet. It is a rare event.”
Jamie Carter,
Senior Contributor, Science, Forbes.com, writes (November 2, 2020) that a
spectacularly rare “Christmas star” is coming in December. Jupiter and Saturn, the Solar Systems two
largest planets, will appear “to almost collide to become one super bright
point of light.” The planets “will look like a double planet for the
first time since the Middle Ages.”
But they will not be close at all. They will only
appear to be close. The planets aligned in the Solar system a few weeks
ago but on December 21 they will appear aligned to us on planet Earth, Carter
writes. “Our line of sight is different because we’re orbiting quickly around
the sun.”
“Both of the Solar Systems giant planets will be gone
from the night sky by Christmas but before they do they will stage one last
dazzling finale in the form of the “Great Conjunction 2020” on Monday
December 21, 2020.”
“This conjunction is exceptionally rare because of how
close the planets appear to be to one another,” Patrick Hartigan astronomer at Rice
University, USA says. “You would have to go all the way back to before dawn on March
4, 1226 to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the
night sky.”
A conjunction is when two objects line up in the sky. The
wonderful event can be seen from anywhere on planet Earth where the skies are
clear. “The planets will appear low in the western sky for about an hour after
sunset as viewed from the northern hemisphere. They will be closest on December
21,2020.”
The legendary German astronomer, Johannes Kepler, and
other scientists believe that the “Star of Bethlehem” seen by the Magi
(The Three Wise Men) could have been “a rare triple conjunction of Jupiter,
Saturn and Venus.”
Possibly.
And who were the Magi? “They were court advisers to
Babylon who used the stars to give guidance to the ruler.”
“The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament
shows His handiwork,” Psalms 19:1
It is all strange. Very strange. But so wonderful.
#CHRISTMAS #STAR #Jupiter #Saturn #Bethlehem
Comments
Post a Comment