Joining the beloved winter constellation Orion in the evening sky is a beautiful planetary parade.

Planets continue to parade across the night sky

Mars, the beautiful red planet and Earth's closest neighboring planet will be in opposition, as it pairs up and also gets covered up by the Moon.

Mars Shines Bright: Opposition & Lunar Occultation

The winter solstice arrives on Dec. 21.  If the measly nine hours of daylight has got you down – no worries, it’s all about to change.

It has a reputation for being a good one, and this year it looks like the weather will cooperate - but the bright moon will get in our way.

Jupiter takes 12 Earth years to complete one orbit, but one day on the planet is only nine hours long. 

With over 14 hours of darkness now through the solstice, there are a few meteor showers, a supermoon and more beautiful moon and planet pairings.