From the «it's the end of the year as we know it, and I feel fine» department:
Title: In Their Closest Alignment in 800 Years, Jupiter and Saturn Will Create a Wonder: a Christmas Star
Author: Fnord666
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2020 01:19:00 -0500
Link:
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=20/12/11/0345247&from=rss
upstart[1] writes in with an IRC submission for aristarchus_:
In their closest alignment in 800 years, Jupiter and Saturn will create a wonder: A Christmas Star[2]:
The lousiest year in living memory will end with an offering of heavenly wonder: a Christmas Star.
It's actually the alignment of two planets — Jupiter and Saturn — which happens every 20 years or so. But it's not always in December and it's been nearly 800 years — we're talking Middle Ages — since they got this close.
Technically, the two largest planets in our solar system will still be
hundreds of millions of miles apart. But Dec. 21, from our vantage point, they'll look like they're nearly touching, creating a radiant point of light that's being dubbed the Christmas Star, or Star of Bethlehem, for obvious reasons.
Making it even more special: Dec. 21 also marks the winter solstice — the longest night of the year, the tipping point where daylight once again starts gaining ground on darkness.
Gotta love the symbolism.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Original Submission[3]
Read more of this story[4] at SoylentNews.
Links:
[1]:
http://soylentnews.org/~upstart/ (link)
[2]:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/vp-nw-christmas-star-coming-20201205-2xvxthdlzzeahh7idpbg5aavl4-story.html (link)
[3]:
http://soylentnews.org/submit.pl?op=viewsub&subid=46058 (link)
[4]:
https://soylentnews.org/article.pl?sid=20/12/11/0345247&from=rss (link)
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