LAKEWOOD, CO — There’s no question: What happens in the sky the night of the winter solstice is sure to bring some joy in a year when it’s been hard to find in Colorado. Jupiter and Saturn

will dance in a planetary conjunction, lining up perfectly to create the illusion of a “Christmas star.” The two bright planets have been visible in the evening sky for the past several

nights as they move closer together, culminating on the night of Dec. 21, the winter solstice. But if the solstice and the “great conjunction” of Jupiter and Saturn aren’t enough to get you

outside, the Ursid meteor shower will offer a show of shooting stars at the same time. FIND OUT WHAT'S HAPPENING IN LAKEWOODFOR FREE WITH THE LATEST UPDATES FROM PATCH. The National

time Jupiter and Saturn were this close together was in 1623, according to NASA. As the two giant planets traveled together across the sky, Jupiter caught up to and passed Saturn in the

astronomical event known as the “great conjunction.” “You can imagine the solar system to be a racetrack, with each of the planets as a runner in their own lane and the Earth toward the

center of the stadium,” says Henry Throop, an astronomer in the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “From our vantage point, we’ll be able to see Jupiter on the

inside lane, approaching Saturn all month and finally overtaking it on December 21.” Planets regularly appear to pass each other in the solar system, often without fanfare. Jupiter and

Saturn align every 20 years or so, but it has been nearly 400 years since they danced this close together. It’s been nearly 800 years since the alignment occurred at night, as it will this

year. And the two planets won’t be this cozy again until March 15, 2080. Here, from NASA, is an explanation of what to expect: “The closest alignment will appear just a tenth of a degree

apart and last for a few days. On the 21st, they will appear so close that a pinkie finger at arm’s length will easily cover both planets in the sky. The planets will be easy to see with the

unaided eye by looking toward the southwest just after sunset.” Though the two gas giants will appear to be stacked upon each other, they will be hundreds of millions of miles apart in

space. And though they’ll appear to form a "Christmas star" on the night of the winter solstice, that’s a coincidence based on the planets' orbits and the Earth's tilt.

“Conjunctions like this could happen on any day of the year, depending on where the planets are in their orbits,” Throop said. “The date of the conjunction is determined by the positions of

Jupiter, Saturn and the Earth in their paths around the Sun, while the date of the solstice is determined by the tilt of Earth’s axis. The solstice is the longest night of the year, so this

rare coincidence will give people a great chance to go outside and see the solar system.” Although the timing of the conjunction has led some to compare the alignment to the Christmas star,

it won’t look anything like the starburst shown on images depicting Christ’s birth in a manger in Bethlehem; however, it will look like a very, very bright star. Because Jupiter and Saturn

are so bright, they can be seen in cities, and there’s no need to head to a dark sky to view them (though you may want to if you stick around for the meteor shower). But do find a spot with

an unobstructed view of the sky, such as a field or park. About an hour after sunset, which occurs at 4:39 p.m. in Lakewood, start scanning the southwest sky. Jupiter will look like a bright

star and will be easy to spot, while Saturn will be slightly fainter and will appear just above and to the left of Jupiter. Jupiter will overtake Saturn, then the planets will reverse

positions in the sky. You don’t need a telescope or binoculars to see the conjunction, but the boost they give may make it possible to see the four large moons that orbit Jupiter. The window

to see the conjunction is short. Both planets quickly set after sunset. You’ve only got about two hours before they disappear. STICK AROUND FOR SHOOTING STARS If you can and the weather is

decent, stick around outside. On this most spectacular of nights, the Ursid meteor shower, which runs from Dec. 17 to 26 every year, reaches its peak. Actually, the shower peak occurs in the

early morning hours of Tuesday, Dec. 22. Ideally, you should start looking for shooting stars around 1 a.m. The first quarter moon sets in the early evening, leaving dark skies that will

make meteors pop. Manage your expectations some here. The Ursid meteor shower, named after the constellation Ursa Minor, the Little Bear, is a low-key event producing only about 10 shooting

stars an hour. They take a back seat to the more robust Geminid meteor shower, but occasionally produce outbursts when up to 100 shooting stars an hour may be visible. The shooting stars

will appear to come from just to the left of the bowl of the Big Dipper, which will hang low in the northern sky during the peak. Meteor showers occur when Earth plows into a stream of

debris left behind by a passing comet. When these particles — normally about the size of a grain of sand — enter Earth’s atmosphere, they burn up in spectacular displays of shooting stars.

Particles left behind centuries ago by the dim comet 8P/Tuttle — due to swing past the sun again in August 2021 — create the Ursid meteor shower. WINTER SOLSTICE: THE BEGINNING OF LIGHT

Finally, here are a few things to know about the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year, but also a celestial holiday celebrated through the ages as the beginning of light. The

solstice arrives in Lakewood at 3:02 a.m. Mountain Time. On the first full day of the calendar winter, we’ll see nine hours and 21 minutes of sunlight. The solstice isn’t something you see

but rather something that occurs — though you may want to mark the 2020 solstice by taking a picture of your shadow at noon. Because the sun is at its lowest arc across the horizon, it will

cast long shadows. Shadows at noontime on the day of the winter solstice will be the longest of the year. The winter solstice occurs at the exact moment the North Pole tilts the farthest

away from the sun. On Tuesday, the days begin growing a wee bit longer every day until the summer solstice, after which the days start getting shorter again. On the winter solstice, the sun

seems to stand still directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, which is 23.5 degrees south of the equator. During the summer solstice, which occurs in June, the sun is directly over the Tropic

of Cancer. The winter solstice, the oldest-known winter celebration, is derived from the Latin word “solstitium,” which means “sun standing still.” In ancient times, it was both spiritually

and scientifically important and marked the changing of the seasons. The best place in the world to observe the winter solstice is at the prehistoric monument Stonehenge in Wiltshire,

England, believed to have been erected by ancient Celtic druids to line up the exact position of the sunset on the winter solstice. The winter solstice may explain why Christians celebrate

the birth of Jesus in December. The Bible isn’t specific about when Jesus was born, and some people believe Dec. 25 may have been selected by Pope Julius I as the date of Christ’s birth to

replace the ancient pagan Roman midwinter festival called “Saturnalia” with a Christian holiday. The late Harry Yeide, who taught religion at George Washington University for nearly 50 years

and who died in 2013, once told National Geographic that as the Christmas celebration moved West, “the date that had been used to celebrate the winter solstice became sort of available for

conversion to the observance of Christmas.” Several of the rituals associated with Christmas — dinner feasts, gift-giving and decorative wreaths, for example — are rooted in pagan winter

solstice rituals. It may surprise you that the earliest sunsets and latest sunrises don’t occur on the winter solstice. It seems counterintuitive, but as Earthsky.org explains it, the key is

understanding solar noon, the time of day the sun reaches its highest point in the sky. In early December, true solar noon occurs 10 minutes earlier on the clock than it does at the

solstice. When true noon occurs later on the solstice, so do the sunrise and sunset times. “It’s this discrepancy between clock time and sun time that causes the Northern Hemisphere’s

earliest sunset and the Southern Hemisphere’s earliest sunrise to precede the December solstice,” Earthsky.org says. “The discrepancy occurs primarily because of the tilt of the Earth’s

axis. A secondary but another contributing factor to this discrepancy between clock noon and sun noon comes from the Earth’s elliptical — oblong — orbit around the sun. “Earth’s orbit is not

a perfect circle, and when we’re closest to the sun, our world moves fastest in orbit. Our closest point to the sun — or perihelion – comes in early January. So we are moving fastest in

orbit around now, slightly faster than our average speed of about 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) per second. The discrepancy between sun time and clock time is greater around the December

solstice than the June solstice because we’re nearer the sun at this time of year.” Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.