Update 28 12 2020
The Great Joining of Jupiter and Saturn could have been the Star of Bethlehem
A shot from the lecture mentioned shows the movement of the two planets over so many nights ending with the 21st December. As you might have progressed down the lines (two images per night) you could have arrived at the final 'joining' on Dec 21.
Good coverage in the Daily Telegraph here. The lecture is here.
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There is an activity at the foot of the page here See 5 Activity - Jupiter and Saturn
It is unusual is to spy a pairing up of the two slowest moving naked eye outer planets, Jupiter and Saturn. That’s just what happened as Jupiter met Saturn on the December 21st 2020 solstice.
Which is which? Try using size. Which is the larger planet?
Children by now should be familiar with planet sizes and distances from the Sun here.
If you are asked about solstice, help your children with this page.
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The top half shows the position a few days before the lower half on the 21st December.
In the top half the blue dot is the Earth near the yellow dot - Sun.
The lower half shows the orbit of the Earth.
Worth seeing using telescope or binoculars.
Shame it was a cold, wet and cloudy evening !
pagetop here
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