How do skywatchers measure distances in the night sky? Here’s how to understand it when they speak of objects as being several degrees (or several arc minutes or arc seconds) apart.

In the year 2021, the moon will swing to its farthest point from Earth on May 11, 2021, and then will come closest to Earth on December 4, 2021.

Quite by coincidence, the true lunar month straddling the years 2020 and 2021 matches the mean lunar month in length: 29 days 12 hours and 44 minutes. That almost never happens.

As the year opens, you can still view 2 bright close-knit planets in evening twilight: Jupiter and Saturn. Mercury joins them on January 9, 10 and 11. Mars is the only bright evening planet out after true darkness falls. Dazzling Venus is the sole morning planet, lighting up the east at dawn.

The sun entered the constellation Sagittarius on December 18, 2020. It’ll cross into the constellation Capricornus on January 20, 2021. Look here for dates of the sun’s entry into the zodiacal constellations for 2021.

In late December – and in January and February – our evening sky faces away from the Milky Way’s star-rich center. We look toward the depths of space beyond our galaxy’s boundaries and toward some close, bright stars in our local spiral arm.

Jupiter and Saturn at conjunction are only 0.1 degree apart. Don’t miss them! Info, charts, photos here.

This annual shower always peaks around the December solstice. The dark hours before dawn are best.