There are few sights in nature as stunning as the night sky in December. Bright stars like Betelgeuse, Capella, Aldebaran, Sirius, and Orion Belt stars will dominate the night sky after dark, but you can follow some unique astronomical phenomena over two weeks from December 20, 2025 to January 4, 2026.
As seen from the Northern Hemisphere this year, the crescent moon will curl up in the western sky just before Christmas, then glide past Saturn and the Pleiades star cluster. Meanwhile, Jupiter shines as a bright “Christmas star” in the eastern sky just after sunset.
Add in two meteor showers and a full-on “wolf supermoon,” and it’s time to get outside and look up at the skies. Here’s how to follow the show every night…
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1. Jupiter shines as the “Christmas Star”
Best time to see: December 25, 2025 – January 2025, 10, 2026
Go outside about 90 minutes after sunset and look east. The brightest “star” that rises in the sky is Jupiter, which emits a steady light. It will be your planetary companion for the rest of the year – a seasonal lantern that grows taller and more visible each night.
If it looks like the Star of Bethlehem or the Star of Christmas, it’s because on January 10, 2026, it will be closest to its opposite star, the brightest star ever.
2. Ursa Minor meteor shower
Best time to see: December 21-22, 2025
Today marks the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the shortest day and longest and darkest night of the year. After dusk, a 3% bright waxing crescent moon hangs low in the southwest at dusk and quickly dips below the horizon, darkening the sky astonishingly as it heads toward the top of Ursa Minor.
Although it is not a very strong meteor shower, about 10 “shooting stars” occur every hour in a moonless night sky, so it is a good opportunity to stargaze or, if the sky is clear, take your astrophotography camera out. Be sure to pack well, leave around 11pm, and stay for 1-2 hours if possible.
3. Crescent Moon’s “Earth Shine”
Best time to see: After sunset from December 22nd to 24th, 2025.
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The highlight of the few nights between the winter solstice and Christmas is the waxing moon in the western sky just after sunset. On December 22nd, the crescent moon with a brightness of 7% will display “Earth Shine”, where sunlight reflects off the Earth’s clouds and oceans and gently illuminates the night side of the moon.
On December 23rd, it will shine near Fomalhaut, the brightest star in the southern constellation of Pisces Austrinus, with 13% illumination. On Christmas Eve, a waxing crescent moon will appear, currently at 21% brightness, forming an lopsided triangle with Fomalhaut at its lower left and Saturn at its upper left.
4. “Santa’s Sleigh” on Christmas Eve
Best time to see: December 24th to 25th, 2025
Check out NASA’s Spot The Station page or app to see if the International Space Station’s path is visible from your location. If we’re lucky, it will appear in the western sky as a brilliant, steady point of light, brighter than almost any star, streaking across the sky in just a few minutes. To young observers, it’s the perfect “Santa’s sleigh,” racing around the globe every 90 minutes while hanging stockings and wrapping presents.
So that children can see up close
5. Christmas tree cluster
Best time to see: Anytime after sunset in December and January
Today, those gifted with large telescopes have an attractive celebratory target. Hidden among the faint constellations is the Unicorn (to the east of Orion) is the Christmas Tree Cluster (NGC 2264).
Although not visible to the naked eye, if you have binoculars or a small telescope under a dark sky, you can look for the small triangular star patches that give the area its festive nickname. This young star cluster is about 2,500 light-years from our solar system.
6. Saturn and Moon conjunction
Best time to see: December 26, 2025
Boxing Day brings a beautiful combination of the Moon and Saturn. When it gets dark, look for a bright moon high in the southern sky. The moon is currently in its waxing phase, and about half of it is illuminated. Nearby, within a few finger widths at arm’s length, Saturn sits as a steady, golden point of light.
7. Orion
Best time to see: Anytime after sunset in December and January
Orion is one of the most famous constellations in the night sky, but the constellation Orion is at its most beautiful only in winter. Although it is best known for the Belt of Orion, also known as the “Three Kings,” there is much more to see than Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka. There are four stars on either side, arranged in a loose rectangular range around the star on the belt. On one side are Saif and a reddish Betelgeuse, and on the other side are Bellatrix and a bluish Rigel.
Use your binoculars to find Orion’s “Snake” (an S-shaped star cluster between Alnylam and Mintaka) and aim it at the nearby blur. This is the Orion Nebula (M42), a stellar nursery where stars are born.
Learn more about Orion
8. Pleiades and the Moon
Best time to see: December 31, 2025 – January 2025 January 2026
On New Year’s Eve, the most beautiful star cluster in the night sky and an almost full moon will be in close proximity. When it gets dark, look to the east and you’ll see an almost full moon rising in the constellation Taurus, with the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters, right next to it.
From mid-northern latitudes, the moon may appear to skim past the cluster in the evening. Its bright halo engulfs most of the tiny twinkles of stars, but moonlight washes out the darker members of the Pleiades cluster.
9. The full wolf supermoon rises.
Best time to see: Saturday, January 3rd
Tonight’s full Wolf Moon is the fourth and final supermoon in a row. Best seen rising in the eastern sky around sunset, this full moon coincides with perigee, the point at which the moon is closest to Earth in its monthly orbit.
It is about 30% brighter than the average full moon, occupies the sky throughout the night, and appears slightly larger than normal, especially if it is low on the horizon and surrounded by trees, rooftops, or distant hills. The time to catch it is when the moon rises where you are.
The best astrophotography lenses are best for wide-angle shots of the Milky Way, but the best lenses for moon photography are actually telephoto lenses with large zooms, which are typically more used for wildlife photography.
10. Shibungid meteor shower
Best time to see: Night of January 3rd to 4th, 2026
Just before dawn on January 4th, the Principid meteor shower will reach its official peak. The moon is very bright this year, so conditions aren’t ideal, but if you wake up before dawn and the sky is clear, it’s worth taking a little shower.
Find a place where you can turn your back to the moon, or where it is hidden behind a roof or tree, and look overhead and to the northeast. Even with the glare, a few bright meteors can sometimes be seen radiating across the sky from a point near the constellation Bootes.
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