There's no sense sugarcoating it. Winter stargazing is not for hothouse flowers, but if you bundle up and keep your feet and face warm, the rewards are heavenly.
Believe it or not, in the early evening western sky, you can still see the "Summer Triangle" of stars, Vega, Altair and Deneb, which are the brightest stars in their respective summer constellations. Deneb, a star possibly more than 1,500 light-years away, is the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus the Swan, otherwise known by its nickname the Northern Cross. During the holiday season, the cross is standing nearly upright above the northwestern horizon. This is the last call for the Northern Cross and the Summer Triangle, because next month, the evening view from Earth will turn away from that part of space.
The great horse Pegasus is riding high in the south-southwestern sky with Cassiopeia the Queen, the one that looks like a bright "W" in the high northern sky.
The Big Dipper is still very low in the north, but you'll notice that from night to night, it will gradually get higher, standing diagonally on its handle.
The Little Dipper is hanging by its handle above the Big Dipper, with Polaris the North Star poised at the end of the handle. Because Polaris is shining directly above Earth's North Pole, it appears as if all the stars in the sky revolve around Polaris once every 24 hours, including our sun. We're seeing a reflection in the sky of the Earth's rotation.
Gazing in the east just after evening twilight ends, you'll be bombarded with all kinds of bright stars and constellations, even more later in the evening. You are witnessing the rising of the winter constellations, the best of the year, in my opinion. The constellations Auriga the Chariot Driver and Taurus the Bull lead the charge. Just above Taurus is the best star cluster in the sky, known both as the Pleiades and the Seven Little Sisters. This is a young group of stars, 410 light years away, that looks like a tiny Big Dipper. After 8 p.m., Orion the Hunter, the great centerpiece of the winter constellations, climbs well above the eastern horizon. The three stars equally spaced out in a row that make the belt of the great hunter will definitely jump out at you.
If you're a planet-watching fan, the great planet Jupiter is among the great winter constellations on the rise in the eastern sky positioned right between the horns of Taurus the Bull. Jupiter is so bright and wonderful right now because it's at its closest approach to the Earth for 2012 at less than 400 million miles away. With even a small telescope or a good pair of binoculars, you should clearly see the disk of the planet, some of the brighter clouds bands that stripe Jupiter and its brighter Galilean moons that look like tiny little stars either side of planet. You may see up to four moons while they change their positions orbiting the largest planet in our solar system in periods of two to seventeen days. I'll have much more of Jupiter later this month in Starwatch.
Bundle up and take in the great December night sky; it's worth the chill.
(Lynch is an amateur astronomer and author of the book, "Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations.")