Tonight is the rare phenomenon of two planets aligning in the sky visible to the naked eye.

The Planetarium Astronomer of the Manitoba Museum, Scott Young, will be live-streaming sights of the Christmas Star this afternoon. 

The planets will be visible in the southwestern sky right after sunset.

"As soon as it gets dark you have to go outside. Sunset is at 4:30 pm and by 5:00 you can start to see Jupiter and by 6:15 it'll be set behind the trees," says Young. 

December 21, 2020, is the great conjunction or the 'Christmas Star' as some people are calling it. 

"Basically what's happening is two of the planets in our solar system are coming together in the sky. They're going to be so close that they're almost touching in the sky, which is a pretty rare event."

The last time this happened was about 800 years ago, according to Young. The two planets are Jupiter and Saturn.

"We will be setting up telescopes that will have a video camera streaming live to the internet. It's a portable telescope so I'll be watching the weather forecast and we'll be driving the whatever area of the province clears up soonest. Looks like it'll be clearing from the west first so hopefully, we'll have clear views."

Environment Canada said earlier this morning that there would be a 50/50 chance that people in Southern Manitoba could see the 'Christmas Star' this evening, due to the clouds and system moving through. 

Young shares that the planets will be able to be viewed over the next few nights in the exact same place as well, it will simply be the brightest tonight.

During the live-stream, if Young and his team cannot see the conjunction, they have fellow astronomers around the country who can share their views with the public. 

"We'll be showing both telescope planets with the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn together. It'll be a really beautiful event."

The Manitoba Museum is running its Holiday at Home series with free programs over the Christmas break.

"It perfectly times out that we have this great telescope even that we have right at the beginning of the holidays," he says.