From JH Star Gazer
Horkheimer: Greetings, greetings fellow star gazers. And mark 2:04 a.m. Eastern Standard Time or your local equivalent, Monday December 22nd as the first moment of winter, the winter solstice. And also mark Christmas night, Thursday December 25th on your calendar as an evening you absolutely must see the pairing of the brilliant evening star with an exquisite crescent moon which will be so beautiful it will knock your socks off.
O.K., in order to understand what the winter solstice, the first moment of winter is, we should understand that the word "solstice" is Latin for sol Sun and stice stand still. So on the winter solstice the Sun from our Earth perspective appears to stand still. Because it is the one day of the year when the Sun rises at its farthest point south of east and sets at its farthest point south of west. Which was of great concern to our ancestors because they believed that all heavenly objects were gods and that if the Sun god was displeased it might just continue to keep rising and setting farther south until it eventually disappeared.
So the day of the winter solstice was met with great anticipation, a bit of anxiety and a lot of celebration because right after the solstice the Sun invariably started rising and setting a little bit farther north each day. Meaning that the world would not be plunged into eternal winter and that spring would once again eventually come. You see on the first day of spring the Sun rises and sets exactly due east and due west and thereafter it rises and sets just slightly north of east and west every single successive day until it reaches its northernmost rising and setting points on the summer solstice when the Sun once again appears to stand still after which it retraces its steps, rising and setting a little farther south of north each day until the winter solstice when once again the Sun appears to stand still. So the winter solstice is the day when the Sun reaches its southernmost rising and setting point along the horizon and in the northern hemisphere is the day of shortest daylight and longest night time.
So it's easy to see why our ancestors could be frightened because many believed that if the Sun continued its journey south the world would be plunged into eternal night. In fact winter solstice celebrations were so widespread in our western culture that the early church decided to move Christmas to the time of the solstice. And speaking of Christmas, if you go out Christmas night Thursday December 25th 45 minutes after sunset and look southwest you'll see the dazzling "Evening Star" paired with an exquisite young crescent Moon complete with earth shine which will look like a dark full Moon cradled within the crescent. And although many people may mistake this "Evening Star" for the "Christmas Star" it is not a star at all but the brightest planet we can see from Earth, 8,000 mile wide Venus. Please don't miss this spectacular pairing on Christmas night! Take your family outside after Christmas dinner and marvel at this beautiful gift from the stars! Happy holidays! And Keep Looking Up!