From the earliest times, human beings around the world have observed the heavens with keen interest and curiosity. Quite often, these observations have led to the development of rituals, celebrations, and holidays which are intimately intertwined with observable celestial events.
Such is certainly the case for the sun, the most important of all celestial objects, and its relationship to the holiday season we celebrate at this time each year.
As the Earth orbits the sun, its axis of rotation is tilted at a fixed orientation with respect to the Earth’s orbital plane. To an observer on the Earth the sun appears to annually oscillate north and south in the sky.
During the autumn months in the Northern Hemisphere, the sun seems to gradually to move toward the southern horizon. As it does so, the nights become longer and the days shorter, until the sun reaches it southernmost point in the sky, the so-called winter solstice point.
Upon arriving at the winter solstice point, the sun then “turns around” and begins to creep back toward the north. Now the days begin to lengthen and the darkness recedes before the onslaught of daylight.
It is thought the very earliest cultures observed this behavior of the sun and became alarmed at what seemed to be the sun’s imminent departure from the sky, an event which would leave the Earth in perpetual darkness.
To forestall such a catastrophe, a variety of rituals and ceremonies were cleverly designed to “call” the sun back from its southward journey. Eventually it was recognized that the sun always reverses its course when it reaches the winter solstice point, and with that realization, the winter rituals evolved into ceremonies of renewal and celebrations of the rebirth and replenishment of the sun’s life-giving energy.
As one might expect, the ancient Romans adroitly hewed out one of the more impressive winter solstice traditions with their celebrations of the Birthday of the Unconquered Sun.
In the 4th century A.D., however, the unconquered sun yielded to the birth of Christ as the centerpiece of the winter solstice celebrations in the West, and to this day, Christ’s nativity, with its promise of spiritual renewal and the forces of light turning back those of darkness, complete with an attendant bright star for guidance, continues to resonate with the earlier themes of winter solstice celebrations
Restoration, renewal and the return of light have also found their way into the celebration of the Jewish winter holiday of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, which commemorates the rededication of the Temple of Jerusalem in the second century B.C. by the lighting of candles over the eight days of festivities.
Even in a contemporary society that has drifted all too heavily toward the secular, winter solstice themes are readily apparent in such forms as decorative lights on houses and buildings, New Year’s resolutions, and a magical Santa Claus who renews the Christmas spirit with his impressive outburst of activity each and every Christmas Eve.
May your holiday season be blessed with an abundance of light and renewal.
Elsewhere in the sky: After spending several months side by side in the evening sky, the planets Jupiter and Saturn will exhibit a so-called “great conjunction” when, on the evening of the Dec. 21 winter solstice, Jupiter will pass less than 1/5 of a full moon diameter south of Saturn. This will be the closest approach of Jupiter to Saturn in our night sky since July of 1623.
Great conjunctions occur once every 20 years or so, but are usually either lost in the solar glare or are not as close as this one will be. This rare celestial event can be viewed with the naked eye, binoculars, or a small telescope for several evenings around Dec. 21 to the southwest about 30 minutes after sunset from a location having a clear access to the southwestern horizon.
The ruddy planet Mars begins the evening high to the southeast and is easily visible amid the much fainter stars of the constellation of Pisces for the rest of the night.
The planet Venus continues to dominate the predawn sky, but is now rising only about two hours ahead of the sun.
The planet Mercury is too close to the sun to be easily seen in December.
The best meteor display of the year comes on the evening of Dec. 13 when the Geminid meteor shower reaches its maximum activity. With the moon out of the way, an observer from a dark sky site can expect up to 60 Geminid meteors or so per hour, particularly after midnight for a day or two before and after the 13th.
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November 29, 2020 at 01:30PM
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Colorado Skies: Night sky plays a role in a season of light and renewal - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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