Today:
Tonight’s New Moon is ideal for viewing the signature “W” shape of the constellation Cassiopeia, the Queen, surrounded by the star fields of the Milky Way, due north at 6:45 PM EST, and nearly at the top of the sky. The Queen always appears on the opposite side of the North Star from the Big Dipper, very low this evening in the north.
Saturday:
On the next clear evening near 6:30 PM, crossing the zenith you’ll perhaps find the Andromeda Galaxy, the most distant object viewable with the un-aided eye, but quite a challenge. Binoculars will help, and show a bit more, but its distance of 2.5 million light years means only special photography can reveal some of its details.
Sunday:
Winter Solstice occurs this morning at 10:03 AM EST, with our shortest day and longest night of the year. At the start of this longest night, you might catch the waxing Crescent Moon along the southwestern horizon, before the moon chases the sun below the horizon, barely after sunset. Once this happens, Saturn will be shining a third of the way up in the south-southwest, between Aquarius and Pisces.