The rare conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn...a Christmas Star...last occured in 1623 but couldn't be seen from earth. Before that?

Wouldn't it be comething it cleared just for enough time to see what is happening in the sky? Thank you for your reply Shuhak! :)

Here's what I don't understand. How do today's folks KNOW what happened so very long ago? I mean we are at December 14, 2020 and we KNOW what happened on March 4, 1226? Seriously?  Are there records somewhere? When did recordkeeping begin?  Sounds as if your birth was an auspicious occasion E. Thank you for your informative reply and Happy Monday to thee and thine! I shall ask.

I would need to explain the complex equations that are used to calculate the positions of the planets at any given time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepler%27s_laws_of_planetary_motion

Yep.

What amazes me, is that they can use formulas to figure out there are planets we haven't seen yet - based on the interactions of ones we have.  That had to be like:

Scientist A: "I can't figure it out.  This formula works for every planet and asteroid except THIS ONE."

Scientist B: "Maybe there's another planetary body affecting THAT ONE."

Scientist A: "Da*n!  I bet you're right." {scribbles math} "Yeah.  That would mean there is a body somewhere HERE, about this size/mass."

:):):)

Thank you for your reply and the link which I will click onto as soon as I post this! Happy Friday to thee and thine E! :)

I just got chills reading your reply Durdle. Of Wonderment! Chills and thrills of wonderment! My goodness but you must have been ecstatic to see what you saw! Thank you for sharing your experience with us. Sometimes our skies are crapped up with sludge from the removal of environmental protections so we simply can't see the stars even much less anything else. Happy Friday to thee and thine Durdle! :)

Ah! Ummm!

Actually I was mistaken. What I saw may have been two stars in near alignment, but was not the real conjunction.

Once I knew when and where to look, low in the South-West just after dark (about 5pm GMT at my latitude) I could see the two planets clearly, much brighter than the two stars, still a fair way apart.


It will be best on Monday (21st) but the weather here has been very changeable for some days now and I don't think the outlook for Monday is good, so we might miss it.

The 1623 conjunction must have been visible from Earth, otherwise it could not have existed, because it is only a line-of-sight effect given by our planet's position relative to Jupiter and Saturn.

An astronomer on the radio this morning said also, with good binoculars, it should be possible to see Jupiter's four moons, or the largest four of them anyway (I am not sure how many it has). Jupiter is the bigger and brighter, as it is larger than Saturn anyway but also the nearer of the two, to us. She also mentioned seeing Saturn's rings but I think that would need a telescope or binoculars more powerful than mine, in both light-gathering and magnification. And a rigid mounting for the instrument, too.

There is a theory that the Christmas "Star" was the same Jupiter / Saturn conjunction. I am not sure if that has been settled, but I know there has also been a suggestion that it was a supernova (that whose remains are known now as the Crab Nebula?) recorded by contemporary Chinese astronomers.

We don't own binoculars Durdle. What would a "good" pair be(any brand you might recommend?) and what might they cost? We do have some very clear skies out here in Hemet. The air is clearer and cleaner than it was in Riverside and the air in Los Angeles is really awfully awful last I knew. But well that was like 40 years ago so maybe it's better now! Thank you for your informative reply. Being so near the ocean as you are would the skies be clearer more inland? Do you get a lot of fog where you live? Happy Friday Durdle! :)

Sorry - I can't really recommend any make! And of course if I knew prices they be for British shops. My binoculars were second-hand, or might have been my Dads.

I suppose you could depend on any made by leading brands of optical equipment generally, such as cameras; and though can often pick up good ones second-hand if you were going to buy new I would suggest trying a dealer specialising in photographic, natural-history or hunting & fishing equipment as they are likely to sell reasonable quality items.

My binoculars are rated at 10 X 50, read as  " ten by fifty", where 10 (times) is the magnification and 50 is the "aperture", the diameter in millimetres of the object-lenses - the big ones at the front. That diameter governs their light-gathering power, so the larger the more they will show things at night. This is the standard way they are specified. The problem is that the larger the instrument the harder it is to use because the slightest hand-tremor - and mine are very wobbly - sends the image dancing all over the place.

I also have an old brass telescope, of 20 x about 40, maybe less, so higher magnification than the binoculars but much lower light-gathering ability, roughly two-thirds in fact.


I live on the SW coast of England so the air is quite clean but often hazy or misty, less commonly foggy.

++++

I am  not sure if I have told you this story or  not;

I know the Mendip Hills, near Bristol and the coast; and with a string of towns and villages along their feet. Despite those settlements, on Winter nights the night sky above them can be very clear; with a good view of the stars and Milky Way. One night, oh, some twenty years ago now probably, I was admiring the sky with a couple of members of one of several caving clubs based on the hills. One of them told of a young lady from Canada staying as a guest of their club, in Winter, a few years previously.

My acquaintance related how she, himself and one or two others were admiring a similarly starry sky. Their guest stared at the Milky Way for some time then broke down. Astonished and rather worried, they asked what was the matter.

The scene had overwhelmed her.

She was a professional astronomer but worked with a radio telescope, near a city with masses of bright lights and lots of fog that usually hid most of the stars but would not affect stellar radio-frequency signals. Despite spending her working days studying those signals from within our own Galaxy - the Milky Way - that evening on holiday in England was the first time she had actually seen it with her own eyes. This post was edited by Durdle at December 19, 2020 2:35 AM MST

No Durdle you did not share that experience with me but I can quite understand her having done that. The air is cleaner in Los Angeles now than it was decades ago but still not awesomely great. I dated a guy once upon a time whom I had met due to my friendship with his sister. He took me up to a restaurant in the mountains to have dinner on one date and I will tell you looking up at that night sky where everything was clear was overwhelming. I don't remember crying but I do remember being extremely moved emotionally. So I can just imagine how it could affect a professional astronomer! I think maybe perhaps we don't look up enough Figuratively and literally! Thank you for your reply and for sharing first-hand experiences. Those are by far the best though educated opinion is good too! :) This post was edited by RosieG at December 19, 2020 2:40 AM MST