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.
Friday:
The Moon, one day shy of its First Quarter, does not appear shy at all in its cozy approach to Saturn, somewhat subdued, but visible to the Moon’s lower left, the closest encounter of the Moon to any planet this month. The pair appears due south by 5:15, and then strolls to the lower right through the evening, heading for the western horizon, where they set near 11 o’clock.
Saturday:
Look for the First Quarter Moon, a little more than half way above the horizon, due south at 6 o’clock this evening, which is the direction in which the First Quarter Moon always appears. Because the Moon is one “quarter” of the way through its monthly orbit around the Earth, a quarter of that circle would be half way between the western and eastern horizon.