IF YOU have little ones, wrap them up warm, take them outside on Christmas Eve at 5.15pm, get them to face the west, and wait. After a couple of minutes or so you'll all see a 'star' rising up from the horizon, moving eastwards, i.e. to the left. It will not get very high as moves across the sky - it will stay so low, in fact, that any trees or buildings on your local southern horizon might hide it from your view - but it will be very obvious to the naked eye as it drifts through the sky.

Now, some boring people will try to tell you that the 'star' is the International Space Station, but we know better don't we? We know that it's really Santa on his toy-packed sleigh, starting his rounds...

Note: Santa/ISS flyover times can change a little, so please visit our Eddington Astronomical Society blog ( http://eas-online.org.uk/ ) closer to Christmas Eve for an accurate time.