SALT LAKE CITY: With over a dozen Dark Sky International Parks and even two Dark Sky communities, Utah is one of the best places to be during the shortest day of the year.
There are plenty of places throughout the state where you can get a tremendous view of the stars when the sun goes down. That said, you won’t have to venture too far to see a special cosmic event that hasn’t been visible in nearly 400 years on Monday.
Those interested in seeing the night sky during the first day of winter seem to be in luck when it comes to cloud cover.
Want to see the Christmas star in Utah? You’re lucky
Utahns will be one of those who can see a rare cosmic delight of “great conjunction” visible Monday evening, as Jupiter and Saturn will be close enough to the sky to barely appear as a sun. Some have christened it the “Christmas Star” because it is a large, bright star that appears in the sky in a manner similar to the biblical description of the night Jesus Christ was born. The rare fusion of the night sky of the two planets has not occurred since 1623.
“It’s a rare fact,” Patrick Wiggins, NASA’s ambassador for the solar system in Utah, told KSL TV last week. “I’ve been warning people not to expect a really striking event,” Wiggins said. “But it’s something that doesn’t happen that often.”
It is the second unique show in life visible in the dark sky this year behind NEOWISE Comet, which was visible during the summer for the first time in over 6,000 years. Unlike the comet, you won’t have to travel to dimly lit areas for a good view.
It is something that people can enjoy from their gardens.
Cloud cover is, of course, the biggest hurdle for any one-time night sky event. This Monday night is not expected to be a major issue for Utah. It is one of the few times that a high pressure pattern is accepted in the state during the winter months.
“We expect clear skies tonight, which is key. It’s the conjunction of the planet: that bright star, that ‘Christmas star’ that will be visible tonight,” KSL meteorologist Grant Weyman said during a Monday morning forecast.
Mitch Bolen of the Utah Valley Astronomy Club explained that the best viewing hours are between 5:30 and 5:45 p.m., Monday. The conjunction will be visible in the southwestern part of the sky at about 16 degrees above the horizon, he added. It will close from 6:30 pm on Monday.
Some clouds are expected to roll north of Utah and the Wasatch Front Monday evening, but they should not completely cover the sky. It is expected to clear on Monday night in the early hours of the morning. A storm system that will bring more clouds and potentially snow to the region is not expected to arrive until Tuesday later.
What cloud cover are we talking about? Not much in all of Utah. The National Meteorological Service’s cloud cover forecast indicates that most of the sky will be visible during peak viewing hours. Clearer skies can be found in central and southern Utah.
We had some questions about visualizing the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. For those interested, here is the forecast for the percentage of cell coverage on Monday evening. pic.twitter.com/22HSxkyMQp
– NWS Salt Lake City (@NWSSaltLakeCity) December 21, 2020
Starting at 11 a.m. Monday, the following is an explanation of how the weather service forecast forecast cloud cover between 5 and 7 p.m. Monday:
- Mixture: 10-15%
- Brigham City: 35%
- Cedar City: 5%
- Farmington: 30%
- Fillmore: 5%
- Logan: 35%
- Moab: 10-15%
- Price: 35%
- Price: 10%
- Test: 20%
- Salt Lake City: 30%
- Sant Jordi: 10%
- Tooele: 30%
- Vernal: 30-40%
Come to the conjunction, stay to the rest of the stars
For those who want to enjoy seeing the night sky during the rest of the winter solstice, the Meteorological Service projects relatively low cloud cover in northern Utah across the Wasatch Front from Monday evening to early Tuesday morning. Places like Logan, Brigham City, Ogden, Farmington, Salt Lake City and Provo will range from 15% to 40% during those periods with slightly higher cloud coverage in the northernmost parts of the state.
The sky in central and southern Utah will be even clearer. Weather service forecasts for areas such as St. George, Cedar City, Fillmore, Richfield, Blanding and Moab range from 5% to 25%. Southwest and central Utah is where the lowest cloud percentages were forecast, which means a high probability that there will be virtually no clouds in the sky early Monday morning.
East Utah is where the highest cloud cover was expected. For example, in Vernal the coverage could reach 40% to 50%. However, clouds are not expected to cover most of the sky in the state on Monday night or Tuesday morning.
For anyone who wants to enjoy the complete “dark sky,” Utah has many certified international dark sky parks. These are Utah’s international dark sky parks:
Torrey and Helper are also currently state-certified international Dark Sky communities. These are areas where the dark sky is preserved and the opportunities for star observation, such as seeing the Milky Way, are better than areas full of light pollution.
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Carter Williams