Today:
Christmas’s connection to astronomy dates back to our earliest European ancestors, knowing that the longest nights of the year would slowly give way to increasing amounts of light and warmth from the Sun. Numerous stone structures, including Stonehenge, tracked the Sun carefully, to help mark the date. Such alignments were incorporated into Mayan buildings in Central America as well.
Thursday:
The view to the southeast is quite impressive by 9:00 PM this evening. Low above the horizon, the Dog stars Procyon on the left and a bit higher, and Sirius much brighter on the right, are featured with Orion above them. Meanwhile, the planet Jupiter teams up with the orange-red star Aldebaran, quite high in the southeast.
Friday:
Tomorrow morning, from 6:15 to 6:45 AM, the morning twilight offers some fleeting glimpses before they all disappear with the rising Sun: The summer stars of Scorpius, the Scorpion return to the skies, first with his claws, and then a splendid encounter of the thin Crescent Moon, barely to the right of the red star Antares. Well to their left, a fairly decent display of the elusive planet Mercury.