Starting this month is a new feature in which we take a brief look at various celestial objects of particular interest for one reason or another. These are a star, a galaxy, a nebula and a cluster. To keep matters simple all the objects are located on or close to the meridian line, due south, around mid month at 20:00h ( GMT time). The objects are ranked as Easy, Medium or a Challenge to observe with the type of optical aid required to spot them... [Read more about Crossing the Line: objects of the month]
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The Sun reaches its lowest position in the sky on December 21st this year; the date of the winter solstice and officially the start of winter in the northern hemisphere. From our latitude the Sun arcs little more than 12 degrees above Southern horizon at local noon, standing before the stars of Sagittarius. Useful daylight amounts to just 7½ hrs - ’the shortest day’... 
In this month's edition: