How to see the Christmas star in Seattle (Spoiler: it’s too cloudy)

If you’re trying to find a good location to spot the Christmas star, you might have better luck just waiting until Tuesday night.

The National Weather Service says it’s going to be cloudy in Seattle on Monday night. Clearing isn’t expected until Tuesday. And luckily, the planets will still be close in appearance.

We have been getting a lot a questions on the sky cover situation for tonight. It is going to be really cloudy this evening, clearing not expected to really start until early Tuesday. Conditions will be better later this week and the planets will still be close together! #wawx pic.twitter.com/2ZjpSwX1Cw

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) December 21, 2020

The Christmas Star is actually Jupiter and Saturn converging together on Dec. 21. NASA refers to it as the ‘Great’ Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

“You can imagine the solar system to be a racetrack, with each of the planets as a runner in their own lane and the Earth toward the center of the stadium,” said Henry Throop, astronomer in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “From our vantage point, we’ll be able to be to see Jupiter on the inside lane, approaching Saturn all month and finally overtaking it on December 21.”

NASA says the planets regularly appear to pass each other in the Solar System, with their alignment happening once every 20 years. However, this year is special because they haven’t passed this close to each other in 400 years, according to NASA. Furthermore, it’s been about 800 years since the alignment occurred at night, allowing almost everyone on earth to witness the Great Conjunction.

The timing with the winter solstice is just coincidence, NASA says.

“Conjunctions like this could happen on any day of the year, depending on where the planets are in their orbits,” said Throop. “The date of the conjunction is determined by the positions of Jupiter, Saturn, and the Earth in their paths around the Sun, while the date of the solstice is determined by the tilt of Earth’s axis. The solstice is the longest night of the year, so this rare coincidence will give people a great chance to go outside and see the solar system.”

If you’re reading this in an area with minimal cloud cover, NASA has a few tips for finding the planets:

• Find a spot with an unobstructed view of the sky, such as a field or park. Jupiter and Saturn are bright, so they can be seen even from most cities.
• An hour after sunset, look to the southwestern sky. Jupiter will look like a bright star and be easily visible. Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear slightly above and to the left of Jupiter until December 21, when Jupiter will overtake it and they will reverse positions in the sky.
• The planets can be seen with the unaided eye, but if you have binoculars or a small telescope, you may be able to see Jupiter’s four large moons orbiting the giant planet.

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