The Moon and two bright planets highlight the early evening sky. Some bright stars climb into view later, with the brightest pinpoint of light in all the night sky taking over at dawn.
\nAs the color of twilight fades into the darkness of night, look about a third of the way up the southwestern sky for Saturn. It looks like a bright star, but it\u2019s really the second-largest planet in the solar system.
\nFrom there, shift your gaze to high in the southeast for the largest planet, Jupiter. It outshines every other planet and star in view this evening \u2014 a brilliant beacon that shines through most of the night.
\nThe only light that outshines it is the gibbous Moon, low in the east-northeast. El Nath, at the tip of one of the horns of Taurus, the bull, is quite close to the Moon. And Aldebaran, the bull\u2019s bright eye, lurks to the upper right of the Moon.
\nTwo or three hours later, some other prominent stars add their luster to the canvas. The constellation Orion stretches across the east and southeast. It\u2019s marked by its three-star belt, which extends straight up from the horizon. And if you follow the belt down toward the horizon, you\u2019ll come to Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky.
\nFinally, as the pale glow of dawn starts to color the sky, the planet Venus shines low in the southeast. It\u2019s the brilliant \u201cmorning star,\u201d so you can\u2019t miss it \u2014 a final bright decoration for the Christmas-night sky.
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Script by Damond Benningfield
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