NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Thursday, December 17, 2020
‘Christmas Star’ to be visible during solstice
By BILL BRADSHAW
Wallowa County Chieftain
PENDLETON — The
“Christmas Star” will
become apparent for the
fi rst time in nearly 800
years and — hopefully —
will be visible over Uma-
tilla County on Monday,
Dec. 21, to coincide with the
winter solstice and brighten
up the darkest night of the
year.
About 45 minutes after
sunset Dec. 21, the two larg-
est gas giants in the solar
system are expected to
appear to cross paths in the
southwestern sky. Not since
1226 have they appeared
so close, although they are
in reality millions of miles
apart.
In 1226, Genghis Khan
was taking over parts of
Russia and the 5th Crusade
was trying to recapture land
in Egypt.
According to kgw.com,
the visible distance apart
of the two planets can be
measured by degrees. Jupi-
ter and Saturn will be about
0.1 degree away from each
other, making them appear
basically as one bright light
in the sky. For perspective,
the width of the full moon is
about 0.5 degrees. The dis-
tance between Jupiter and
Saturn from our perspec-
tive will be about one-fi fth
Pixabay/Contributed Photo
It won’t be quite this bright in Umatilla County, but a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn in the southwest sky on Monday, Dec.
21, 2020, will create a “Christmas Star” about 45 minutes after sunset. It’s the fi rst time the two have come together in about
800 years.
“Let’s hope it is clear as
the south camera will pick
it up,” a spokesman from
weatherbee.com said in an
email. He declined further
comment.
According to the Bible,
it was a similar event — a
star that appeared at the
the width of a full moon.
In the Northern Hemi-
sphere, just after sunset,
look in the southwest sky
and you’ll be able to see
the two neighboring lights
above the horizon. Jupiter
will be on the left and Sat-
urn will be on the right.
Forecast for Pendleton Area
TODAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
Breezy this
morning
Cloudy, a shower
in the p.m.
Cloudy and mild
Rain and drizzle in
the morning
A couple of
showers possible
48° 37°
49° 38°
53° 38°
48° 34°
PENDLETON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
54° 45°
44° 32°
55° 39°
HERMISTON TEMPERATURE FORECAST
53° 45°
45° 33°
58° 38°
OREGON FORECAST
ALMANAC
Shown is today’s weather. Temperatures are today’s highs and tonight’s lows.
PENDLETON
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Seattle
Olympia
50/43
Kennewick Walla Walla
47/38
Lewiston
49/42
53/37
Astoria
49/43
41/33
49/32
Longview
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Pullman
Yakima 46/32
50/41
49/37
Portland
Hermiston
49/43
The Dalles 53/38
Salem
Corvallis
49/39
Yesterday
Normals
Records
La Grande
42/33
PRECIPITATION
John Day
Eugene
Bend
49/39
41/30
39/26
Ontario
43/27
41/27
38/20
0.00"
0.02"
0.80"
3.96"
5.05"
9.30"
WINDS (in mph)
Caldwell
Burns
50°
38°
39°
27°
66° (1959) -16° (2008)
24 hours ending 3 p.m.
Month to date
Normal month to date
Year to date
Last year to date
Normal year to date
Albany
49/40
through 3 p.m. yest.
HIGH
LOW
TEMP.
Pendleton 42/34
49/41
0.01"
0.07"
0.75"
12.26"
12.00"
12.26"
HERMISTON
Enterprise
48/37
51/38
51°
35°
39°
26°
62° (1942) -12° (1964)
PRECIPITATION
Moses
Lake
50/41
Aberdeen
39/30
40/32
Tacoma
Yesterday
Normals
Records
Spokane
Wenatchee
51/44
Today
Boardman
Pendleton
Medford
43/34
Fri.
WSW 8-16
WSW 8-16
WSW 6-12
SSW 6-12
SUN AND MOON
Klamath Falls
Sunrise today
Sunset tonight
Moonrise today
Moonset today
37/22
Forecasts and graphics provided by AccuWeather, Inc. ©2020
7:31 a.m.
4:12 p.m.
10:29 a.m.
7:34 p.m.
First
Full
Last
New
Dec 21
Dec 29
Jan 6
Jan 12
time Jesus was born —
that guided magi to Beth-
lehem, where the child was.
Magi were a type of priest
in ancient Persia. Although
the Bible does not say how
many Magi visited Christ
after his birth, it is assumed
there were three because
they brought three gifts:
gold for his being a king,
frankincense for his being a
high priest and myrrh look-
ing ahead to his death.
According to nbcnews.
com, it was a conjunction
of Venus and Jupiter about
2,000 years ago, not Saturn
and Jupiter.
NASA’s Night Sky Net-
work said through Friday,
Dec. 18, Jupiter and Saturn
also will be visible by look-
ing toward the waxing cres-
cent moon to the west about
45 minutes after sunset.
“Keep in mind that while
the two gas giants may
appear close, in reality they
are hundreds of millions of
miles apart,” NASA writes.
“This will still be quite a
striking sight, but you will
need to look fast as both
planets will set shortly after
sunset.”
On the solstice night,
Dec. 21, the moon will be
higher in the sky, but Jupi-
ter and Saturn will remain
closer to the horizon in the
western sky and might look
like one large star, NASA
writes. From an amateur
telescope, however, a star-
gazer might be able to
clearly see both planets and
some of their moons within
one frame of view.
“Find a spot with a good
horizon where you’d be able
to see the sunset, and in that
same general area of the
sky you’ll see Jupiter once it
starts to get dark, and then
a bit later, Saturn on the left
now, getting closer to Jupi-
ter every day,” Pat Harti-
gan, an astrophysicist at
Rice University, wrote in an
email.
Walla Walla VA preparing to make
calls for vaccinating local veterans
By SHEILA HAGAR
Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
WALLA WALLA, Wash.
— The vaccination phone
calls will be coming.
That’s the most import-
ant
thing
for
veter-
ans served
by the Jon-
athan
M.
Wainwright
VA Med-
ical
Cen-
Bjornberg
ter to know,
spokes-
woman Linda Wondra said
this week.
Like every medical pro-
vider around the globe, the
U. S. Department of Veter-
ans Affairs has been plan-
ning for the moment a vac-
cine became available to
fi ght against the coronavirus.
That happened Friday,
Dec. 11, and on Monday,
Dec. 14, the VA adminis-
tered its fi rst doses of the
Pfi zer formula to front line
health workers and veterans
in New Orleans and Bed-
ford, Mass.
The fi rst shot given in this
country to a VA patient went
into the arm of a 96-year-old
World War II veteran, Won-
dra said.
“I think that’s really
neat,” she said.
NBC television in Boston
reported Margaret Klessens,
a resident of a VA nursing
home in Bedford, received
the shot at 12:07 p.m. Dec.
14.
Klessens, who served in
the women’s Army auxiliary
corp in communications
during the war, reported
being happily surprised at
how fast the vaccine had
arrived, NBC said.
Thirty-fi ve other VA
facilities across the U.S. are
also receiving the vaccine
this week.
The Walla Walla VA is
anticipating getting its fi rst
shipment soon, Wondra
said, but no exact date can
yet be pinpointed.
The minute it can be,
the notifi cation calls will be
going out to enrolled veter-
ans in the order of priori-
ty-need levels, and vaccina-
tions can begin, she said.
Chris Bjornberg, director
of the Walla Walla VA, said
the center’s focus is ensur-
ing all veterans getting care
there and all employees get
fully immunized.
Those health care work-
ers will be among the fi rst
to receive vaccinations, due
to their high risk of contract-
ing and spreading COVID-
19 to other staff members
and patients, Bjornberg said,
noting the health of staff is
critical to continuity of care
for patients.
As vaccine supplies
increase, locally enrolled
veterans will receive vac-
cinations based on factors,
such as age, existing health
problems and other condi-
tions that increase the risk of
severe illness or death from
COVID-19, he said.
As veterans wait for the
phone call to schedule vac-
cination appointments, they
can sign up to get updated
information through the
VA’s Keep Me Informed
tool, visit the VA Coronavi-
rus Vaccine FAQs webpage,
contact their care team or
visit the Walla Walla facility
website, Wondra said.
NATIONAL EXTREMES
Yesterday’s National Extremes: (for the 48 contiguous states)
High 84° in Immokalee, Fla. Low -14° in Angel Fire, N.M.
NATIONAL WEATHER TODAY
IN BRIEF
Oregon OSHA launches
employer virus safety
course online
SALEM — Oregon’s Occupational
Safety & Health Administration has created
an online training course to help employ-
ers comply with rules aimed at curbing the
spread of coronavirus in the workplace.
The free, fl exible course, “COVID-19
Training Requirements,” is designed to help
employers meet employee training require-
ments found in Oregon OSHA’s temporary
rule addressing the risks of COVID-19 in
CORRECTION: In the Page A1 story “New voting data confi rms east-west divide
in Umatilla County Commissioners race,” published Thursday, Dec. 10, the story cal-
culated for voting percentages using contest totals, including overvotes and under-
votes, rather than calculating for total votes cast.
Shown are noon positions of weather systems and precipitation. Temperature bands are highs for the day.
-10s
-0s
0s
showers t-storms
10s
rain
20s
flurries
30s
snow
40s
ice
50s
60s
cold front
E AST O REGONIAN
— Founded Oct. 16, 1875 —
70s
90s
100s
warm front stationary front
high
110s
Copyright © 2020, EO Media Group
ADVERTISING
Regional Sales Director (Eastside) EO Media Group:
• Karrine Brogoitti
541-963-3161 • kbrogoitti@eomediagroup.com
Advertising Manager:
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
EZPay
52 weeks
26 weeks
13 weeks
Local home delivery Savings (cover price)
$9.75/month
50 percent
$135
42 percent
$71
39 percent
$37
36 percent
*EZ Pay = one-year rate with a monthly credit
East Oregonian (USPS 164-980) is published Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday,
by the EO Media Group, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801. Periodicals
postage paid at Pendleton, OR. Postmaster: send address changes to
East Oregonian, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801.
The East Oregonian works hard to be accurate and sincerely regrets any errors. If
you notice a mistake in the paper, please call 541-966-0818.
low
Circulation Dept.
For mail delivery, online access, vacation stops
or delivery concerns call 800-781-3214
211 S.E. Byers Ave., Pendleton 541-276-2211
333 E. Main St., Hermiston 541-567-6211
Offi ce hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Closed major holidays
EastOregonian.com
In the App Store:
80s
the workplace, an OSHA release stated.
The rule is expected to remain in effect
until May 4, 2021, and requires employers
to comply with employee training require-
ments no later than Monday, Dec. 21.
The course is available in English and
Spanish and takes about an hour to com-
plete. It provides a training overview and
illustrates the signs, symptoms and spread
of the virus as well as how to reduce its haz-
ards through physical distancing, face cov-
erings, sanitation and proper ventilation.
For more details, visit osha.oregon.gov.
— Walla Walla Union-Bulletin
• Angela Treadwell
541-966-0827 • atreadwell@eastoregonian.com
Multimedia Consultants:
• Jeanne Jewett
541-564-4531 • jjewett@eastoregonian.com
• Audra Workman
541-564-4538 • aworkman@eastoregonian.com
or debit card/check charge
Business Offi ce
Single copy price:
$1.50 Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
• Dayle Stinson
541-966-0824 • dstinson@eastoregonian.com
Classifi ed & Legal Advertising
1-800-962-2819 or 541-278-2678
classifi eds@eastoregonian.com or legals@eastoregonian.com
NEWS
• To submit news tips and press releases:
call 541-966-0818 or email news@eastoregonian.com
• To submit community events, calendar items and Your EO News:
email community@eastoregonian.com or call Renee Struthers
at 541-966-0818.
• To submit engagements, weddings and anniversaries:
email rstruthers@eastoregonian.com or visit eastoregonian.
com/community/announcements
• To submit sports or outdoors information or tips:
541-966-0838 • sports@eastoregonian.com
COMMERCIAL PRINTING
Commercial Print Manager: Holly Rouska
541-617-7839 • hrouska@eomediagroup.com