Believe it or not, astronomical winter arrives on Dec. 21 at 4:21 a.m. Astronomically speaking, this is the for the Northern Hemisphere and the summer solstice for the Southern Hemisphere.
The Northern Hemisphere will have the longest night of the year on Saturday, and starting on Sunday, the sun will start climbing higher in the sky each day with an ever increasing length of daylight.
The earth鈥檚 seasons are around the sun and the 23.5 degree tilt of our planet鈥檚 axis. This causes the amount of sunlight falling on the earth鈥檚 northern and southern hemispheres to constantly change.
The two hemispheres are always opposite in their seasons 鈥� our fall is their spring while our summer is their winter.
If you are out enjoying the longest night of the year, the five visible planets will keep you company.
Venus blazes above the southwest horizon as it gets dark 鈥� you can鈥檛 miss it. At 9 p.m., in the southwestern sky you will see yellowish Saturn, while over in the east, brilliant Jupiter rides high in the sky. Reddish Mars will be to the lower left near the horizon. You can see Mercury low in the southeast sky about an hour before sunrise, and binoculars will help immensely with finding the bright, yellowish planet.
The is predicted to peak on Dec. 22-23, but a bright moon will hamper the view.
On Dec. 30 you will learn what my 鈥淭op Space Story for 2024鈥� is and on Jan. 1, 海角精品黑料鈥檚 monthly 鈥淲hat鈥檚 Up In DMV Skies鈥� will premiere. Each month, what鈥檚 happening in the sky as well as space-related events on the ground, we’ll keep you up to speed.
Wishing everyone happy holidays and a joyous new year.
Follow Greg Redfern on聽,听聽and his聽聽to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.
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