Local skies were clear Monday night and many residents were out after sundown looking into the western sky and filled with antcipation. They hoped to see the much hyped great conjunction when the two largest planets in the solar system, Jupiter and Saturn, align to create a rare event that some thought would resemble the biblical Star of Bethlehem, also known as the Christmas Star. Monday was the first time the planets aligned like this since the Middle Ages.

The planets appeared low in the western sky for about an hour after sunset as viewed from the northern hemisphere. Although it was sinking towards the horizon, the planets at twilight were bright enough to be viewed with the naked eye.

The two planets looked like a double planet and provided an extraordinary amount of light. The last time these two planets aligned like this was on March 4, 1226. Alignments between the planets are rather rare, occurring once every 20 years or so. However, this conjunction was exceptionally rare because of how close the planets appeared to be to one another.

Area, residents, generally those who tried to look at the conjunction with their naked eyes, were disappoineted that the show did not meet their expections. Those using a telescope or even binoculars were more impressed.

The show was supposed to be visible here again on Tuesday night but the weather didn’t cooperate. The day dawned clear but a cold front with high winds and clouds rolled in from the north before sundown.