PaperDabba.com - In pictures: The great conjunction

Published: 7 hours ago

image copyrightMike Blake / Reuters

It might be Christmas, but for keen stargazers this was the time when Jupiter and Saturn crossed paths in the night sky, reaching their closest point on 21 December. Photographers have been out recording the moment.

image copyrightJose Luis Gonzalez / Reuters

image captionAcross the world people gathered around telescopes to view the rare celestial event.

image copyrightRodin Eckenroth / Getty Images

image captionSome like astronomer Blake Estes in Santa Barbara, California, used high-end telescopes to photograph the moment the planets seemingly came together, though they remained about 450 million miles apart in space.

image copyrightPeter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

image captionOthers use their mobile phones to record the event.

image copyrightPeter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Image

image captionThis is the moment when Jupiter and Saturn started to form a double planet in night sky in an event known as the great conjunction.

image copyrightJon Nazca / Reuters

image captionThe two planets have not been this close to each other in a dark sky for 800 years, and are seen here from southern Spain.

image copyrightYasser Al-Zayyat / AFP

image captionTo the west of Kuwait City, astro-photographers recorded the moment.

image copyrightYoussef Badawi / EPA

image captionIn Damascus, people gathered on roofs to try and view the event.

image copyrightBjoern Kils/New York Media Boat/Reuters

image captionThe two planets can just be seen as the Statue of Liberty in New York City looks on.