In Pictures: Rare celestial viewing of Jupiter and Saturn in alignment

The event, also known as the Great Conjunction or Christmas Star, fell coincidentally on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere.

Updated

Published

December 22, 2020 at 2:30 PM

Kuwaiti astrophotographers follow the great conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in al-Salmi district, a desert area 120 kms west of Kuwait City, on Dec 21, 2020. The great conjunction refers to the alignment of Jupiter and Saturn. PHOTO: AFP

A picture taken on Dec 21, 2020, in al-Salmi district, a desert area 120 kms west of Kuwait City, shows the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. PHOTO: AFP

A man observes the closest visible conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in 400 years, through a telescope in Kathmandu, Nepal on Dec 21, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

View of the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter in the sky over Santa Pola, Alicante, eastern Spain on Dec 21, 2020. PHOTO: EPA-EFE

Groups of people gather near a Christmas tree on the beach as they watch the celestial phenomenon of the planets Jupiter and Saturn align so closely they almost appear as one single "star", known as a planetary conjunction, in the sky at Cardiff State Beach in California, U.S., Dec 21, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

Claudia and her son use a telescope to see Jupiter and Saturn during a planetary conjunction, as they appear close together in a rare celestial event at the border crossing between Mexico and the United States in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on Dec 21, 2020. PHOTO: REUTERS

People wearing face masks watch the sunset as they wait to see the planets Jupiter and Saturn during the great conjunction at the Griffith Observatory on the same day as the winter solstice, Dec 21, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. PHOTO: AFP

Astronomer Blake Estes prepares a telescope to view the great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn on Dec 21, 2020 in Santa Barbara, California.
PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/AFP

A handout photo made available by NASA shows the Moon (L) Saturn (R, top) and Jupiter (R, bottom) after sunset from Washington, DC, USA, Dec 17, 2020. The two planets are drawing closer to each other in the sky as they head towards a great conjunction on Dec 21, where the two giant planets will appear a tenth of a degree apart.
PHOTO: NASA VIA EPA-EFE

Mr Tan Jyh Harng, 28, a science educator, doing a test run of the live stream for the Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the observatory at Science Centre Singapore on Dec 20, 2020.
PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES/ LIM YAOHUI

Jupiter and Saturn are seen close together at the tip of the finger of the Inscription Of The Island bronze sculpture by Singaporean artist Lim Soo Ngee at Changi Beach on Dec 11, 2020.
PHOTO: THE STRAITS TIMES/ LIM YAOHUI

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