Dec. 22, 2007 -- This could be the Christmas Eve you read The Night Before Christmas by moonlight -- with a smidgen of Mars-light mixed in.
Sometime between the last eggnog and Santa's arrival will be the best time in many years to head out into the chilly air and view the 98-percent-full moon shining down from a height it won't reach again for 16 years.
A couple of hand-widths west of the moon, golden Mars will be extraordinarily bright as well. The Red Planet's exceptional glow is due to it reaching what's called opposition, which means it is exactly lined up with the Sun and Earth. Opposition also means Mars is fairly near, and its full face is lit up when viewed from Earth.
So essentially, we have a full Mars and a full moon this Christmas.
"If you have a pair of binoculars around you might want to turn them towards the heavens," suggests astronomy educator Judy Stanley of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array in Socorro, New Mexico.
Most people are not aware how a simple pair of binoculars can vastly increase the details of objects in the night sky, she said, including seeing features on the moon.
The height of the moon, it should be noted, refers not to its distance from Earth, but to the angle at which it rises in the sky. Because the moon's orbit takes it on a zigzag course above and below Earth's equator, the full moon can sometimes ride rather low in the midnight sky or soar almost directly overhead.
The angle is important because a higher moon pours light more directly down, concentrating onto smaller pieces of ground.
As for Mars, the fourth planet will not be at its closest approach to Earth, despite being at opposition. Mars' closest approach was back on December 18 when it was 55 million miles (88 million km) away. This isn't particularly close for a Mars opposition, since Mars is also approaching the furthest point in its orbit from the sun.
If neither Mars nor the moon is supplying enough action for your Christmas Eve sky, Stanley suggests getting out earlier in the evening.
"If you go out right after sunset you are going to see satellites and one or two shooting stars," Stanley told Discovery News.
It's best to be patient and give your eyes time to adjust to the darkness, she said, or you'll miss the show. If your eyes are really sharp and well adjusted to the dark, who knows? You might even spot a sleigh and eight reindeer zipping across the evening sky.
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