All eyes on the Christmas star

Venus and Jupiter, the two brightest planets in our solar system, yesterday featured as two bright pearls sitting side by side in the sky.

This happened as the two planets aligned in what is known as an “astronomical conjunction”.

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Left: Venus. Right: Jupiter. Photo: Bjarni Árting Rubeksen

KvF’s resident photographer Bjarni Árting Rubeksen went out to capture some of the magic.

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A pupil at Tórshavn’s Spírin recreation centre explores the two planets through a telescope. Photo: Kári Sólstein

To celebrate this event, some schools across the country had organised special star-themed events last night where pupils learned about astronomy.

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It looked like the two planets were about to collide, but luckily they are 600 million kilometres apart. Photo: Bjarni Árting Rubeksen

This very same conjunction between Venus and Jupiter also occurred in year 3 BC, and it has been suggested that this celestial phenomenon may be the bright star that led the three wise men to Bethlehem shortly after the birth of Jesus Christ.

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The moon was also unusually photogenic last night. Photo: Bjarni Árting Rubeksen

If the sky is clear tonight, the Venus and Jupiter will again be visible from the Faroes, though at a greater distance from each other than last night.

Read the Faroese version of this article here.

More Faroese News in English.