The 'Great Conjunction' is about to appear in the night sky

The gas giants Saturn and Jupiter are drawing ever closer together. Well, from our Earthling perspective anyhow. The "great conjunction" of these planets in the night sky is imminent. They will be closest on Dec. 21, appearing as a "double planet." The celestial event, also known as the "Christmas Star," hasn't occurred at night for almost 800 years.  "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," Henry Throop, an astronomer in NASA's Planetary Science Division, said in a statement. "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."  Read more...More about Nasa, Science, and Space