In this case on 21 December the Sun has reached its southern most extreme. The word ‘solstice’ actually comes from ancient Latin – sol: sun, sistere: stand still. Due to a combination of the Earth’s tilt and orbit, over the course of a year the place against the horizon where the Sun rises and sets moves north, and then south, and back again, and the days where it reaches its maximum and turns around are the solstices. If you regularly watch the sunrise or sunset you’ll know that it rises and sets in a different place each day relative to the horizon. The summer solstice occurs on 21 December. Venus, Saturn and Jupiter continue their impressive nightly display in the western sky. Sirius reminds us that it is the brightest star in the night sky ( so it’s in charge), as it marks the collar of Canis Major, the ‘big dog’, while Orion has to negotiate with Taurus, the Bull, if he ever wants to take the Seven Sisters out on a date.Ī waxing gibbous Moon will present on 21 December against this wonderful backdrop. The Pleiades, Taurus, Orion, and his hunting dogs Canis Major and Canis Minor make their welcome return to the evening skies, spawning all manner of mythological tales. This is prime real estate of the night sky, with the striking patterns of stars making for easy stargazing.
It gets its name from the constellation Orion (in case that wasn’t obvious). The relative position of the Earth and Sun mean that we are facing away from the centre of the Milky Way and now seeing the outer arm of the galaxy, called the Orion Arm. The bright centre of the Milky Way is mostly below the western horizon by now, which means all the good stuff is in the east during the evenings.