Great Conjunction

It’s been a difficult year for us all.

I know that’s an understatement. But methinks I shouldn’t have to go into many details to explain why. Unfortunately, those reasons are still all around us.

It’s said hard times bring out the best and worst in people. I’ve come to see the truth in that first-hand, and — put mildly — it’s disheartening.

I’ve seen people come together as a community to support each other, and I’ve seen people who talk about the need for community support refusing to do so by undertaking the simplest of tasks. There are people who walk the talk, and those who talk, but when no one’s looking, don’t do the walk.

But there have been bright spots this year too. So let’s focus on those.

Ironically, to see a couple of those bright spots we’ve had to look up — literally. One of those is taking shape right now in the southwestern skies after sundown.

It’s called “The Great Conjunction,” which is fitting. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, our Solar System’s biggest gas giant planets Jupiter and Saturn are headed for a meeting on Dec. 21 when they will be so close they will pretty much form one big, bright star, separated by about 1/5 the diameter of the full moon.

For those with telescopes, Amateur Astronomy Magazine says you will be able to see both of them at the same time in the viewing field. You can start watching right now, according to the magazine, by looking to the southwest an hour after sunset and finding the pair about 19 degrees above the horizon.

To demonstrate how to approximate this, the magazine provides an illustration showing the width of your pinkie finger as 1 degree, three fingers as 5 degrees, a clenched fist as 10 degrees and extended index and pinkie fingers in a “V” as 15 degrees. Telescopes, binoculars and the naked eye will all provided different but excellent views, but you should probably go to a location where you have a better view of the horizon.

While alignments of these two planets take place every 20 years or so, conjunctions such as this are rare, Rice University astronomer and professor of physics and astronomy Patrick Hartigan said in a CNN article.

“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,” he added.

It’s also a one-night affair, according to the Old Famers Almanac, so hopefully the weather cooperates.

It’s interesting this should take place at this time of year. For one, the winter solstice is also Dec. 21.

But I’m thinking of something more Biblical. A conjunction has long been one of the explanations for the star that guided three important men from the East to a place in the Middle East called Judea — at least an explanation for those of us who try to escape the metaphysical and maintain some form of sobriety in our belief systems.

Ironically, another explanation is a comet, and we’ve had one of those this year too, which was also pretty spectacular. But — still trying to stay religiously sober — learned men in ancient times regularly looked and studied the heavens so such events as a great conjunction and a comet would have been known to them and not mistaken for something more unexplainable.

Nonetheless, the Dec. 21 event is being dubbed “The Christmas Star,” and why not. The Biblical star was meant as a signpost to something greater, better, something we could place our faith and trust in and help restore hope and promise to our lives.

And after all, a conjunction is a unification of a sort, something we need now. That alone is a good reason to get outside and look up on Dec. 21.

– John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].