The Ursids are coming! The big meteor shower will be most active this very night. The Ursids meteor shower is named that because the shooting stars appear to radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor. The website timeanddate.com tells you precisely where to look (not that I understand), but you do need to be away from city lights.
I’m sure you’ve heard about the Great Conjunction (sounds like some historical ecclesiastical event). Jupiter and Saturn will be the closest to each other than they’ve been in 397 years. But the last time they were so close and also visible from earth was 1226! It seems that Jupiter is doing the pursuing, but in the end, the planets will maintain proper social distancing: they won’t quite touch. (Egad—what would happen if they did touch?) They’ll be a tenth of a degree apart, and won’t be that close again until 2080. In fact, they will perhaps look like one big star, so those imaginative scientists are calling it “the Christmas Star.” If you want to see the Great Conjunction, you must look to the southwest tonight, and also—you guessed it—be away from city lights. The planets will be very low on the horizon.
The Longest Night of the Year—is here! The astronomical rule is that Winter Solstice occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Capricorn (that’s the one that runs through Brazil). All over the world, societies figured out when the longest night would occur, and celebrated because that meant longer days were coming. In Iran, they celebrate Yalda, the birthday of the sun god Mithra. Families stay up all night to await the morning sun. The most famous ancient celebration is the Roman holiday of Saturnalia, when people exchanged gifts and brought greenery indoors to decorate. Decorating with mistletoe, holly, evergreens, and feasting were all part of Yule, celebrated at this time in Northern Europe in pre-Christian times. You know about people going to Stonehenge in England at both summer and winter solstices, right? This year the people are banned, but English Heritage will live-stream the solstice on You Tube. Note that you need to hurry: dawn in England will take place at midnight Pacific Time tonight.
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