A guide to winter stargazing

Venus, Jupiter and Saturn will be shining in the sky this winter.

Jupiter can be seen to the south of Venus.

For the first three weeks of January, Mercury will be making its way onto the lower western horizon as Venus moves out of view.

Orion the Hunter is a fan favorite of winter’s star findings.

The society has five observing sites centered around the Twin Cities metro area, and four of those locations house more than a dozen telescopes for its 400 members to use.

Both the Minnesota Astronomical Society and the Bell Museum currently offer star parties online, but they’ll be returning to in-person starting in January 2022.

The northern lights, also called the aurora borealis, form when particles from the sun erupt and travel through space and hit Earth’s atmosphere, making the atmosphere light up.

The Bell Museum provides printable copies of their star maps online, and apps like SkySafari offer the same help from your phone.

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