The 40th anniversary of the Big Sky State Games is being celebrated in true athletic fashion this weekend in Lockwood.

Today, Venus is referred to as the "Christmas Star" because it will be the brightest object in the sky, besides the moon and sun, Throop said.

Telescopes always make a big showing at the Dark Sky Festival, if it has been too long since you've peered into the deeper ...

Today, Venus is referred to as the "Christmas Star" because it will be the brightest object in the sky, besides the moon and sun, Throop said.

When Saturn and Jupiter line up in the night sky on December 21, they will create a "Christmas star," which hasn't been seen since the 1600s. (NASA photo illustration) ...

The Geminid meteor shower is due to peak on December 13, but there's plenty of other celestial sights to feast your eyes on during the festive season.

Non-twinklers Incidentally, one way that you can tell the difference between a star and a planet in the night sky is that planets do not appear to twinkle, or at least not very much.

But stars do always appear in the east. The Earth rotates from west to east, so stars rise in the east and set in the west, as does everything in the night sky – including the sun and the planets.

The image has been rotated clockwise 160 degrees so that the "Christmas tree" appears standing. So yes, if you looked into the night sky, this is not what you would see.

In addition to the crescent moon and the possibility of more displays of the Northern lights, Venus, the brightest celestial body in the sky other than the moon and sun, will be glowing bright ...