A ‘Christmas star’ will light up the sky this month for the first time in 800 years

For the first time in nearly 800 years, a rare Christmas star will light up the sky at the start of this month’s winter solstice. It’s a planetary alignment that that last happened in the year 1226, according to Rice University astronomer Patrick Hartigan. As they make their orbit around the sun, Jupiter and Saturn will slowly grow closer together over the next two weeks until they are almost …