Today:
As we approach the shortest day of the year, the Big Dipper is showing signs of encouragement for those not enjoying the lack of daylight. By mid-evening, the Dipper is starting to lift a little higher in to the northeast, and by February will look like a question mark, begging the question, “When is spring?
Saturday:
Winter Solstice occurs early this morning at 4:21 EST, with our shortest day and longest night of the year. On this longest night, you’ll need to wait until midnight to see the waning Gibbous Moon emerge from the eastern horizon. But the Red Planet Mars rises much earlier, in the east-northeast at around 8 PM, and will travel high across the southern sky throughout the night.
Sunday:
Tonight’s half Moon, or Last Quarter, rises in the east at midnight, pushed just ahead of the constellation Virgo. The Moon will ride across the southern sky during the predawn hours. Through mid-morning, it will remain visible in the west-southwest, before setting in the west at around noon tomorrow.