Jupiter and Saturn have crossed paths in the night sky, appearing to the naked eye as a "double planet".
The timing of this conjunction, as the celestial event is known, has caused some to suggest it may have been the source of a bright light in the sky 2,000 years ago. That became known as the Star of Bethlehem.
The planets have been moving closer together each night and reached their closest point on 21 December.
Keen stargazers in the UK have been keeping a close eye on the weather to avoid an astronomical disappointment.
"Any evening it's clear, it's worth grabbing a chance, because the weather doesn't look great," Dr Carolin Crawford from the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy told the BBC.
Given a gap in the winter gloom, both planets would have appeared in the southwest sky, just above the horizon, shortly after sunset. (Source: BBC news website)
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