Seeing the Christmas Star - Family Adventure

Last week I told the girls about the converging of Jupiter and Saturn converging to make what looks like "one star" while they were here celebrating the Christmas Holiday. 

Princess Three said she and her boyfriend were planning on viewing in while here and were going to bring binoculars. We set an alarm to remind us to go out just before dark to view the event.

I pondered on the even and how it is happening just around Christmas and if it could have been the "star" that appeared at the time of Christ's birth thinking the it is amazing how the heavens have been witness to so many events through time. 

I did some research about my theory and indeed, it may have been the converging of the stars as when this happens and they line up and converge, it is called, "the Christmas Star" so it must be called that for a reason. I found a page that talks about how it may be these two planets merging, or a few years later, it could have been when Jupiter and Venus came together. The other thought was that it could have been a supernova event or comet that created a tail causing the long bottom that usually is drawn on nativity pictures as the bottom of the star is long like a tail. 

We will never know, but it isn't hard to imagine that the Wise Men saw the same bright light in the heavens that we saw tonight! There were no other stars visible for much of the evening and so the  brightness of the two planets did form a bright "star" in the sky. 

The only way I could see the two planets was with my camera or binoculars. I wish I could have taken a picture through the high magnification binoculars as they were clearly two planets of different color! I tried taking a picture with my camera and I could clearly see two planets, but I couldn't hold the camera still enough to get a good shot. It was such a high magnification that if I moved at all, it was blurry. 

I figured that it would be low on the skyline and we left town and drove to a flatter area so that we could take a look for it. 

I spotted it first as it was getting dark and had to guide their eyes to it using landmarks. Once it was a bit darker, they could find it and clearly see it with the binoculars. On the way home, one of the neighbors had out a telescope but they had recently had Covid-19 so we decided not to go take a look. 

It was a fun night and we enjoyed spending time together. While we were in the car waiting to see it at dusk, Princess Three was playing a "space" playlist! It was fun to listen to "Major Tom" by David Bowie, "Space Cowboy," "Star Wars," etc while we looked for the heavenly event! 

I feel grateful to have been able to witness that event and especially, getting to do it with my girls! I don't have them for much time this year, but I am grateful for the time I do get! 

I hope you enjoyed getting to see the fun "once in a lifetime" event! Enjoy your Holiday week and have a Blessed Day!