Today:
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.
Monday:
The Summer Triangle is slowly bidding farewell as it rests in the west-northwest, its three bright stars spanning the Milky Way, or the “Great River in the Sky” as it’s known in the Orient. Our galaxy arches from the west up to the top and then down to the eastern horizon.
Tuesday:
Rising at 7:00 PM EST this evening is the first of the two “dog stars”. Procyon literally means to “precede”, as in preceding the Canis Major, the Great Dog. Procyon is the brightest star in the Little Dog, leading the way one half hour later for the brilliant Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, rising farther to the southeast about 7:30 PM.