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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
Colin Brennan

Rare Christmas star to be visible in Ireland this month

Planets Jupiter and Saturn will form a rare 'Christmas Star' which will be visible on the winter solstice in Ireland.

On December 21st, coincidentally the winter solstice, the two planets will be put on a show that hasn't been for around 800 years.

They will appear to almost merge in the Earth's night sky.

Jupiter and Saturn will sit 0.1 degrees apart.

The sight will probably many people wondering 'why are those two big bright objects so close together in the sky'.

Jupiter Near Sun (Getty)

They will be so close that people will be able to fit them both in the same telescopic field of view which is very rare.

You won't need binoculars or a telescope to see it.

Jupiter appears brighter because it's bigger and closer than Saturn.

The coming together of the two planets is being called the great conjunction.

Contrary to popular belief, a blue moon has nothing to do with the colour of the moon (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

If you’re a fan of stargazing, make sure you mark December 21st in your diary.

The good news is that there’s another full moon in 2020.

The Full Cold Moon will take to the skies on December 29.

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