The Great Conjunction was the star attraction in this year’s winter solstice, where the planets Saturn and Jupiter perfectly aligned with Earth. The event was regarded as widely significant in our culture in many aspects, with religious scholars relating the conjunction to the Star of Bethlehem, visible to observers during the birth of Christ.

Catastrophists worried that the gravitational influence would trigger a powerful solar flare, but the spectacular and rare event passed off into history, much to the delight of many stargazers. Although Saturn and Jupiter pass each other every 20 years, this year’s conjunction brought the planets within a tenth of a degree of each other, the closest in nearly four centuries and the most significant since the year 1226. More from the Lost History Channel TKTC.

Here’s an incredible time-lapse video of The Great Conjunction, courtesy of the International Astronomical Center.