By now even the latest fall-flowering plants such as witch-hazel are done blooming. You'll likely see no more blooms until at least mid-February. Happy solstice! You may not notice it, but by late December the days are starting to get longer. That's reason enough for us mid-latitude folk to celebrate!
Great Horned Owls will be hooting right into January, to announce their territories and maintain the pair-bond.
☼Unlike every other major moon around the other planets in the solar system, earth’s moon doesn't orbit around the equator, but rather in the same ecliptic plane in which the planets orbit the sun. Its orbit is ever changing, click here to see when the full moon is in December.
☼Get up early about a half-hour before sunrise in the last week of December, Mercury is easy to see to the left of Venus (which is the brightest star-like object in the sky). Unlike a star, both show a small disc in a telescope.