FILE VIDEO: The giant planet Jupiter, in all its banded glory, takes the spotlight in these new images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope that capture both sides of the planet.
(Video credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Paul Morris/Aaron E. Lepsch | Music credit: “From Seedling to Something” by Matt Norman)
Astronomers believe the Star of Bethlehem or “Christmas Star” could have been a real event explained by something as simple as Jupiter in opposition, which happens this year a few weeks before Christmas.
The Star of Bethlehem is described as a “star” seen in the east by the three wise men on the night Jesus was born. According to the Royal Museums Greenwich, the leading theories about the “Christmas Star” include a planetary conjunction between planets, a comet or a supernova explosion.
DECEMBER’S COLD MOON MARKS FINAL FULL MOON OF THE YEAR
Jupiter at opposition is among astronomers’ theories and occurs about every 13 months. This year’s “Christmas Star” will be visible throughout December.
Jupiter (bright at left in Pisces) and Saturn (dimmer at right in Capricornus) low in the southeast sky on a mid-September evening in 2022 when Jupiter was nearing its opposition. (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
“At the possible time of the birth of Christ in the Bible, one of the stationary points could have occurred when Jupiter was directly overhead at Bethlehem at the same time of night for several nights,” according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.
According to NASA, Jupiter will be most visible in the night sky beginning Saturday night, when it rises in the east-northeast. Jupiter will be at its brightest all year because it’s in opposition with the Sun, and Earth in between. The gas giant will appear bright all month long.
An artist rendering showing Jupiter at opposition.
(NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio)
In 2020, the Jupiter and Saturn conjunction was also dubbed the “Christmas Star” when the planets appeared just a tenth of a degree apart, looking like a single bright object. According to NASA, this alignment hadn’t occurred at night for 800 years. The next time the planets appear this close will be in 2040.