Extremely rare spectacle shows up in space as Saturn and Jupiter align for first time in nearly 400 years

MIAMI – Monday marks the official start of Winter and this year, the sky will be sparkling.

It’s a one-in-a-lifetime spectacle brought to us by two huge planets in their orbit around the sun.

Saturn and Jupiter haven’t been this close since the year 1623. They may actually look like they’re crashing into each other, but they’re not.

Jason Matter with the South Florida Amateur Astronomy association called it a great conjunction.

“It’s something you definitely want to go out and see because you won’t see it again in your lifetime,” Matter said. “Conjunctions are pretty much when you have alignment of planets or celestial bodies, so basically Jupiter and Saturn are going to be aligned looking like a singular planet tonight.”

The two planets will be so close and so bright, people around the world are calling it a Christmas star.

“They’ll appear really close together, but in reality they’re about 450 million miles away from each other,” Matter said.

Anytime after the sun sets on Monday, it should be visible.

“Anywhere you have a southwest clear view you’ll be able to see it, so you can see it from home,” said Matter.

Local 10 set up a camera to show a live feed of the event early Monday evening, and a recording of that footage can be seen below: