Heavy cloud cover may spoil hopes of seeing the “Christmas Star” for the first time in 800 years later today, but one reader has captured a stunning image of Jupiter and Saturn converging in the night sky.
The two planets are set to line in a conjunction today to appear to form a double planet, dubbed the “Christmas Star” or “Star of Bethlehem”.
The Grand Conjunction hasn’t been seen for 800 years – and the weather over the south of England means many of us may miss out on catching a glimpse of it after sunset – but John Griffith was able to capture this fantastic photo of the conjunction last night.
Using a Sony A7R Mark III camera and 200-600 lens, John’s picture clearly shows the rings of Saturn as the two planets appear to move closer together, even though they are millions of miles apart.
If the skies do clear, the rare event should be visible from just after sunset at 3.50pm onwards.
The “star” will appear very low on the horizon, with binoculars or a telescope necessary to see it.
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