"... Saturday, Dec. 21. The Christmas season is when M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, passes your zenith shortly after dark (if you live in the mid-northern latitudes). The exact time depends on your longitude. Binoculars will show M31 just off the knee of the Andromeda constellation's stick figure; see the big evening sky chart in the center of Sky & Telescope. This is the longest night of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere; the shortest night in the Southern Hemisphere). The solstice occurs at 11:19 p.m. EST (8:19 p.m. PST), marking the start of northern winter, when the Sun begins its six-month return northward in the sky of Earth. Sunday, Dec. 22. In early dawn on Monday the 23rd, look southeast for tiny Mars to the right or upper right of the crescent Moon, as shown above. Mars is faint now at magnitude +1.6, but it's on its way to a very favorable opposition next October — when it will shine 50 times brighter and appear a big 22 arcseconds wide. ..."
Sky & Telescope
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