The new year is upon us and we survived all the dire predictions from highly uninformed folks who need to take a high school science class about how the world is going to end.

Among their reasoning was a total misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar. Other crackpots said the Earth was going to be done in because on Dec. 21 the sun would be in the direct center of our Milky Way, some 26,000 light years away and that somehow would cause a polar shift on Earth. Some said it would somehow release the destructive power of the massive black hole in the center of our home galaxy.

There were other foolhardy predictions as well. By the way, the sun passes by the center of the Milky Way every year on the winter solstice, but I guess the “doom and gloomers” who cranked out their misinformation on the Internet didn’t completely do their homework!

Without the world ending we still have to pay those Christmas bills, but we also have the magic of winter nighttime heavens over Butler.

As I shared with you last week in Starwatch, the night sky is awash with all kinds of bright stars and constellations, especially in the east and southeast half at nightfall.

That’s where Orion the Hunter and his gang of other brilliant stars and constellations are holding court. It’s my favorite set of constellations, centered around the mighty hunter that reminds me, and a lot of other people, of a giant hour glass. Orion’s most striking feature is his belt, made up of three bright stars in a near perfect row.

After around 8 p.m., there’s a really bright star rising above the southeast horizon. In fact, Orion’s belt points right at it.

That’s Sirius, the brightest star in the entire night sky at any time of the year. Now, there is a brighter starlike object this winter much higher in the southeast sky, but that’s the bright planet Jupiter.

By the way, Jupiter is a wonderful target if you have a new telescope. In fact, next week I’ll point out other great targets for new holiday telescopes.

Sirius is not only the brightest shiner in the night sky, but it is also the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major, Orion’s loyal hunting dog.

Sirius is such a bright star mainly because it is one of the closer stars to us, at least relatively speaking. It’s about a million-and-a-half miles in diameter, about twice that of our sun.

Sirius is about eight- and-a-half light years away, or roughly 50 trillion miles. Believe it or not, that’s considered down the block astronomically. Most stars you see up there, even with the naked eye, are much farther away, some hundreds, some even thousands of light years away.

Also, since Sirius is more than eight light years away, you’re not seeing it as it is right now, but you’re seeing what it looked like in 2005, when all you could do with most cell phones is talk to people and not watch your favorite TV sitcom. It’s taken that long for the light from Sirius to reach our eyes on planet Earth.

Sirius is also known as the patron star of the New Year because during the first couple of weeks of January, the brightest star in the night sky rises to its highest point in the heavens around midnight.

Now just about all of the stars arc across the sky, rising in the east and setting in the west. They reach their highest point above the southern horizon, crossing an imaginary line called the meridian.

The meridian bisects the sky, running from the north compass point on the horizon to the south compass point on the horizon, passing right through the overhead zenith. At midnight this time of year, Sirius transits the meridian and is at its highest point, 30 degrees above the southern horizon.

Forget the botched 2012 doomsday prediction and get Sirius with your stargazing.

By the way, anybody want to help me with my Christmas bills?

If you have any astronomical questions or what me to write about something you’re seeing the night sky drop me a line at mikewlynch@comcast.net.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis/St. Paul. He is author of the book, “Stars, a Month by Month Tour of the Constellations” published by Adventure Publications and available at bookstores and at www.adventurepublications.net.