Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Add Good to your Google News feed.
Google News Button

For the first time in 800 years, Saturn and Jupiter will align to make a 'Christmas star'

Be sure to look up at the skies on December 21.

Annie Reneau
By Annie ReneauDec 03, 2020
Annie Reneau
See Full Bio

It was the Middle Ages the last time humans witnessed the brilliant astronomical phenomenon we are about to see.

The planets Jupiter and Saturn align in the sky every 20 years or so, but it's been nearly 800 years since they've been close enough together from Earth's vantage point to create the double planet "star" known as the "Christmas star" or "Star of Bethlehem." This alignment will appear as a bright point of light that stands out starkly in the night sky.

"You'd have to go all the way back to just before dawn on March 4, 1226, to see a closer alignment between these objects visible in the night sky," Patrick Hartigan, astronomer at Rice University, told Forbes.


The timing of the "Christmas star" being visible just before Christmas will likely prompt comparisons to the nativity story in the Gospel of Matthew in which the three wise men followed a bright star, leading them to baby Jesus. Biblical scholars have debated for centuries whether the star was a symbol in a fable or an actual astronomical event such as the one we will see this month. One theory, which famous German astronomer Johannes Kepler proposed, was that the original "Star of Bethlehem" referred to in the Bible could have been an even rarer triple alignment of Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus.

Regardless, we are in for our own astronomical treat the week of Christmas.

The peak alignment will occur on December 21, coinciding with the winter solstice. For the best viewing, those of us the Northern Hemisphere can look to the southwestern sky about 45 minutes after sunset that day. However, we should be able to see it throughout the week.

In a year with so much darkness, having the holiday season lit up with a rare star sighting feels like a gift. (Or maybe it's an omen? Nah, let's go with gift.)

And thankfully, humans won't have to wait another 800 years to see it again. The next conjunction of these planets in this way will occur on March 15, 2080, so the youngsters among us might have another chance to witness it. As for the rest of us, we'll have to hope for clear skies the week of December 21 so we can partake in this rare occurrence in all its glory.

astronomystarsholidayschristmassciencenature

The Latest

Mathematics, Education, Explainer, Statistics, Probability, Frequency, Doing science
Science

Probability underlies much of the modern world – an engineering professor explains how it actually works

Charity, Philosophy, Ethics, Conflict, Virtues, Understanding, Interpretation, Disagreements, Motives, Character virtue
Science

I’m a philosopher who tries to see the best in others – but I know there are limits

Public health, Regulation, Menstruation, Personal care products, Heavy metals, Tampons, Toxic shock syndrome, PFAS, Phthalates, Toxic chemicals, Period products, Menstrual products, Women's health care
Health

Menstrual pads and tampons can contain toxic substances – here’s what to know about this emerging health issue

plants, cells, trees, green plants, greenery
Environment

Scientists captured plants breathing with a camera, and it's mind-blowing

More For You

Microbiology, Gut microbiome, Aging, Inflammation, Microbiome, Microbes, Longevity, Gut microbes

A diet high in fiber can diversify your gut microbiome – and potentially improve your health and longevity.

Mint Images/Mint Images RF via Getty Images

Your gut microbes can be anti-aging – scientists are uncovering how to keep your microbiome youthful

People have long given up on the search for the Fountain of Youth, a mythical spring that could reverse aging. But for some scientists, the hunt has not ended – it’s just moved to a different place. These modern-day Ponce de Leóns are investigating whether gut microbes hold the secret to aging well.

The gut microbiome refers to the vast collection of microscopic organisms – bacteria, fungi and viruses – that largely inhabit the colon. These microbes aid in digestion and produce molecules that affect your physiology and psychology. The composition of the microbiome is influenced by a combination of factors, including genetics, diet, the environment, medications and age.

Keep ReadingShow less
sleep, problem solving, neuroscience, scientific discovery, creativity

Scientists could implant ideas during R.E.M. sleep cycles.

Photo credit: Canva

Scientists find a way to plant ideas in dreams through sound cues to improve problem solving

When making an important decision or attempting to solve a problem, many of us have been told to “sleep on it.” Before we make a decision or come to a conclusion, the best advice is usually to do so after a good night's rest. But what if that piece of advice turned into the standard procedure for thinking and creativity? Neuroscientists at Northwestern University found a way to manipulate dreams into certain directions by planting ideas using sound cues during REM sleep.

Not unlike the plot of Christopher Nolan’s film Inception, researchers were able to help "dream engineer" participants through targeted memory reactivation (TMR). Twenty participants were recruited for the experiment, in which they were asked to solve a series of brain teaser puzzles within a three minute time limit. The researchers had a different soundtrack for each puzzle. The majority of the puzzles went unsolved.

Keep ReadingShow less
olfactory heritage, historic scents, museum scent, Matija Strlic, Odeuropa, St Paul’s Cathedral, old book smell, GC-MS, mummy scent, Egyptian Museum Cairo, petrichor, Jan Brueghel, Prado exhibition, sensory history, fragrance archaeology, smellscapes, cultural heritage, conservation science, aroma research, visitor engagement

A custom collage-style graphic of historical paintings and artifacts illustrating the concept of smell throughout history.

hub.stackernewswire.com

Recreating the smells of history

Recreating the smells of history

We often learn about the past visually — through oil paintings and sepia photographs, books and buildings, artifacts displayed behind glass. And sometimes we get to touch historical objects or listen to recordings. But rarely do we use our sense of smell — our oldest, most primal way of learning about the environment — to experience the distant past.

Without access to odor, “you lose that intimacy that smell brings to the interaction between us and objects,” says analytical chemist Matija Strlič. As lead scientist of the Heritage Science Laboratory at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and previously, deputy director of the Institute for Sustainable Heritage at University College London, Strlič has devoted his career to interdisciplinary research in the field of heritage science. Much of his work focused on the preservation and reconstruction of culturally significant scents, Knowable Magazine reports.

Keep ReadingShow less
fart, science discovery, gut health, bacteria, digestion

Analyzing the times you pass gas helps scientists study gut bacteria.

Photo credit: Canva

Scientists invent 'smart' underwear that tracks gut bacteria health through your farts

In the United States, gut health is a big deal. According to a 2022 survey by the American Gastroenterological Association, 40% of Americans deal with digestive problems that disrupt their day-to-day lives. Many try different diets and supplements to assuage these issues, as well as use probiotics to improve overall digestion—but there might be a better way. Scientists may have found a way to analyze and pinpoint potential digestive problems; all you need to do is put on some special underwear and fart.

Researchers at the University of Maryland wanted to find a better way to monitor and measure human gut bacteria in the name of microbiome research. While past methods allowed them to see what gut bacteria species are living in the human body, there was no accurate way to see what the gut bacteria was doing hour by hour. Well, they seem to have found a way: a pair of underwear with a tiny sensor clipped near the rear can now record data from a person’s flatulence.

Keep ReadingShow less
History, Archaeology, Mummy, Ancient Egypt, 3D scanning, Artifacts, Museum collections Egyptology, Provenance, Digital archaeology

The 3D scan of a mask fragment matches up with the scan of a different well-preserved mask.

3D scanning and shape analysis help archaeologists connect objects across space and time to recover their lost histories

Today the world of Egyptology faces a silent crisis – not of looting, although that plays a part, but of disconnection. Walk into any major museum, from Copenhagen to California, and you see glass cases filled with what could be called orphaned artifacts: remarkable objects, often acquired in the 19th and early 20th century, that have been completely stripped of their histories. You can see what they are – a mummy’s painted foot case, a golden mask – but we have no idea where they came from. They are beautiful, but historically they are mute.

Many objects entered museum collections at times when excavation and collecting practices were very different from today. In the past, excavated objects were often divided between institutions around the world, and display was prioritized over documentation. Over time, connections between pieces were lost. As a result, museums around the world hold remarkable artifacts whose backstories are thin, fragmentary or missing altogether.

Keep ReadingShow less
teeth, scientific discovery, evolution, chewing, fish

We may have found the creature responsible for our jaws.

Photo credit: Royal Society Publishing/Canva

New Arctic fossils could be the ancestor of all creatures that have jaws

Here’s some science news to chew on: the reason humans and other animals have jaws may have been revealed thanks to a recent fossil discovery. In the Arctic, a fossilized fish species has been found to have teeth on the bony plates lining the roof of its mouth. Not only does this mean scientists found that teeth and jaws appeared far earlier in evolution, but we may have found the grandmother of all jaw biters.

The Romundina gagnieri, a new species of 'acanthothoracid' fish from the Early Devonian of Arctic Canada, had tooth-bearing plates on skull fragments recovered from Arctic rocks. The 400 million year old fossils were found in 1995 on Prince of Wales Island on now-dry ancient sea beds. Initially, the researchers assumed that the plates on the skull fragments they recovered lacked true teeth due to the smoother surfaces.

Keep ReadingShow less
dinosaur, scientific discovery, fossils, evolution, science

New tiny dinosaur dropped!

Photo credit: @JurassicApparel on X/Canva

New species of chicken-sized dinosaur in Spain is changing the history of evolution

Our understanding of dinosaurs has changed over time. The “thunder lizards” are considered to be more related to birds than we previously thought. The brontosaurus went from existing to not existing to possibly existing. Now, a chicken-sized paleontology discovery could fill in a 70 million year old hole in fossil records.

Foskeia pelendonum is a small, chicken-sized plant eater with a “weird” skull that’s unique enough to change evolutionary trees and fill in a gap in dinosaur evolution. Discovered in Spain, the fossils were initially considered to be of a baby bipedal dinosaur. Upon closer inspection, however, they were found to be fully mature fossils of a new small species. The new herbivore dinosaur has been compared to the height of the modern chicken. It's also only 18-inches in length, contesting previous notions about how dinosaurs evolved due to its small size and unique features.

Keep ReadingShow less
kidney stones, health, Canadian, Waterloo, treatment, less invasive, medical breakthrough, urinary tract

Left: A scientist in a lab. Right: Kidney stones.

Photo credit: Canva and Jakupica/ Wikimedia Commons

Canadian scientists create magnetic robots that can dissolve kidney stones in days

If you didn't know, kidney stones are far more common than you might think. And the current treatment options aren't great. But Canada may be coming to the rescue.

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have developed a breakthrough treatment for kidney stones that uses robots as small as a grain of rice to target the stones.

Keep ReadingShow less
© Copyright 2026