Christmas Star Will Be Visible First Time in 800 Years - Dec. 21st

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I will try to find out. Astronomical tables show many parameters, but elevation is not usually among them…
 
Beryllos said:
I will try to find out.
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For others who may be waiting for the answer…

The answer depends on where you are. Saturn, the dimmer of the two planets, is not likely to be visible for latitudes north of +48 degrees or south of -40 degrees.

In any location where the Jupiter-Saturn pair is visible, it will be in roughly the same direction as the sunset. The elevation will be low, no more than 20-25 degrees above the horizon when first visible, and descending throughout the evening. Jupiter will be the brightest star-like object in the western sky. Saturn will be dimmer and very close above Jupiter. Tonight the two planets are separated by 0.1 degree. In comparison, a full moon (which is not tonight) would be about 0.5 degree wide.
 
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I went out to take a look at it tonight. Could not get a good picture with all the light pollution. My picture is below. You can kind of make out Saturn’s rings and some banding on Jupiter.

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Since I was out there, I tried to get a decent picture of the moon.

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The carol says “we three kings of Orient” (“Orient” is in the East) then the song goes on to say “Star of wonder, etc… WESTward leading, still proceeding…”

So they followed the star west.
 
East coast US is all cloudy so we could not see it from here. Catholic Traveler posted a photo of it near the Vatican so I will content myself with that.

We’re supposed to be able to see it tomorrow when the clouds clear, but not as bright.

I’m always a bit annoyed when the news touts these wonderful astronomical events that we don’t get to see. Then again with light pollution we miss a lot. One day hopefully we’ll get to heaven and be able to see everything.
 
No offense intended towards the Creator of these planets, but from where we are, it was a great big bunch of nothing. Nothing looked any brighter than usual. We might have had some cloud cover tonight, not apparent from it being dark in the first place. I had actually found it more tantalizing to watch the planets come closer and closer together (from an earthly vantage point, that is) in the nights leading up to tonight.

It’s OK. We missed the flyover of the ISS a few years ago for what may have been similar reasons. Can’t be helped.
 
Beryllos said:
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HomeschoolDad:
Nothing looked any brighter than usual.
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That aspect was over-hyped. No brightening should have been expected.
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The solar eclipse was much more profound. Now that was something to see! You could actually feel the air getting cooler and a breeze being created. It was strong enough that you could see leaves and brush being blown around near our front steps! Amazing to behold. No wonder primitive and ancient people found it frightening.
 
Yet again, the UK has been saved from astronomical events by our weather.
 
HomeschoolDad said:
No wonder primitive and ancient people found it frightening.
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From what I’ve heard, even we modern, educated people can find it frightening. All the words and diagrams in the world don’t prepare you for the sight of a gaping hole in the sky. It’s an irrational gut reaction, so I’ve heard.

I hope to see the next North American total eclipse, in 2024.
 
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Even here at the height of summer in tropical South America, in the unpolluted countryside, a promisingly sunny day was followed by an overcast sky from late afternoon onward. The only thing visible in the heavens was the half moon. Not a single star. I’ll try again this evening.
 
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Last night I saw the two planets, which were still pretty close together.
 
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