A Guide to the Stellar Wonders of Christmas Night 2025
Christmas brings joy and warmth to those who celebrate it. After the holiday feast and unwrapping of gifts, the night presents a universal spectacle for everyone to relish - the splendor of the winter night sky.
Call upon your loved ones and embark on a celestial journey on Christmas night. This adventure will introduce you to radiant constellations, dazzling planets, and the moon's location on this tranquil evening.
If you've received a new telescope, binoculars, or a camera as a Christmas gift, you're in for a treat. Make sure to utilize these tools to commence your journey into amateur astronomy, capture the night sky's beauty, or even the moon's surface. There are also smartphone apps designed for astronomy beginners that utilize augmented reality to help you locate specific stars, planets, or deep sky objects with no trouble.
What to Expect in the Christmas Night Sky
The hours after sunset on Christmas Day present an array of astronomy targets that can outshine even the most vibrant Christmas lights, especially when observed from a location with minimal light pollution.
Shortly after nightfall, direct your gaze towards the southwestern horizon to spot the delicate 35%-lit waxing crescent moon, casting its soft glow in the winter sky. Nearby, you can see Saturn as a bright "evening star" less than 15 degrees to the moon's upper left. For reference, the width of your fist held at arm's length covers about 10 degrees of sky, while the span of your three middle fingers is roughly 5 degrees.
A 6-inch telescope will allow you to see several of Saturn's biggest moons, like Rhea, Titan, Tethys, and Dione. Unfortunately, Saturn's grand ring system will appear as a thin line due to its current edge-on alignment with Earth following a ring plane crossing earlier in the year.
The moon's thickening crescent will be a sight to behold, even without any tools. With a telescope, you can further explore the wide, smooth expanses of Mare Crisium and Mare Fecunditatis, two significant solidified lava plains on the moon's side facing Earth.
Both Saturn and the moon will sink below the horizon just after 11 p.m. local time for viewers in the U.S.
Look to the East and North
Next, shift your attention to the eastern sky to spot mighty Jupiter, which will be the second brightest object in the night sky on Christmas — after the moon. It will be easy to spot as it travels overhead from east to west throughout the night. The famous constellation Orion will twinkle to its right, with the stars of the Hyades and Pleiades open star clusters visible above in the constellation Taurus.
Lastly, turn your gaze northward to locate Polaris, the "North Star," approximately 40 degrees above the horizon. You can pinpoint Polaris using an astronomy app on your smartphone. Alternatively, look for the Big Dipper, a recognizable pattern of stars, and use it as a guide.
Firstly, spot the "pan" of the Big Dipper in the constellation Ursa Major, which sits low on the northern horizon after sunset. Then, draw a line from the star representing the outer base of the pan, up through the star representing the pouring lip. Follow this line into space, and the next bright star you encounter will be the North Star!
The entire sky seems to revolve around this single point of light as the night progresses, offering a beautiful anchor for anyone planning to capture a time-lapse "star-trail" portrait of the Christmas sky.
We hope you enjoyed this brief tour of the night sky. Wishing you a merry Christmas filled with stellar sights!