You will be able to see the International Space Station pass over the UK on Christmas Eve.  Virtual Astronomer has worked out that this year the ISS will pass over the UK in the late afternoon, rising in the west at 4.42pm, passing low in the sky and setting in the south east at 4.50pm.  He has delivered more than 2,000,000,000 presents in five hours. Good work, Santa.  Father Christmas still has more than 6,000km to travel until he gets to the UK.  What’s the story behind Father Christmas?  The story of Father Christmas starts with Saint Nicholas, a bishop who lived in Myra, Asia Minor (what is now known as Turkey) in the fourth century.  He had a reputation for giving to the poor and being kind to children, explains Isabelle Fraser.  Why does Santa wear red?  The red and white actually derive from the colours of Saint Nicholas.  It was Coca-Cola’s adverts that created the image of the jolly, white-haired man we’re all familiar with today.  Why do we eat mince pies?  Mince pies were known as Christmas pies, or crib pies, as their oblong shape was meant to resemble Jesus’ cradle  Why do we pull crackers?  Crackers are a Victorian invention, created by a sweet maker who wanted a novel way of selling his wares after sales slumped.  Why is it called Boxing Day?  Boxing Day is not to do with Santa’s discarded wrapping and boxes, but has its origins in the practice of giving presents and money to poor people.  'Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.' - comedian Victor Borge.  When you meet Ed Miliband in Tesco on Christmas Eve pic.twitter.com/iPVm0mknYw  Reports suggest Santa has been seen munching on some cookies (because millions of mince pies are just not enough).  I've always loved the #SantaTracker! He's currently headed to Russia. #MerryChristmasEve https://t.co/Q0Lp0fAASh pic.twitter.com/xAEfHhTjkY  To my friends in North Pole, Alaska: This Tuesday, please write me in on your election ballot and vote for me for North Pole City Council at North Pole City Hall. Thank you :-)}  Earlier this year a man named Santa Claus was elected to represent the people of the North Pole.  Mr Claus, who changed his name from Thomas Patrick O'Connor around ten years ago while living in Nevada, received 58 write-in votes to become a councillor in a small Alaskan city.  Claus, who like his namesake, sports a bushy white beard, has promised to campaign for better legislation to protect vulnerable children.  “My thanks to everyone who voted for me ... and all who supported my campaign,” he said after his victory. “I'll do my best for all!”  Read the full story here.  Don't forget to ask @OnStar where @Santa is! They will donate $1 for every Santa request they receive today! https://t.co/UC3sultxgR  Santa travels west to New Zealand and Australia, then Japan, over Asia and onto Africa, before heading to Europe, Canada, the US and Central and South America.  Twitter users have been sharing hilarious reasons for Santa not showing up to every home on Christmas Eve with #SantaNoShowExcuses trending.  Steve Harvey made an appearance  "My friend Steve send me in the wrong direction" #SantaNoShowExcuses @IAmSteveHarvey https://t.co/LTo29BGPAn  As well as some other familiar faces  #SantaNoShowExcuses All the elves were working in the Hogwarts kitchens pic.twitter.com/2gTOexCTTS  And the jokes soon began  #SantaNoShowExcuses : I only had one tiny forklift truck this year? pic.twitter.com/aVQgq73AiA  #SantaNoShowExcuses The Newest Members Of His Fleet Aren't Quite Ready Yet pic.twitter.com/OJwN403tWR  Caught in an existential crisis questioning his life choices #SantaNoShowExcuses pic.twitter.com/V3TeyH3VWS  #SantaNoShowExcuses "My boy Steve was reading the directions." @IAmSteveHarvey pic.twitter.com/xEdvhIN8jR  #SantaNoShowExcuses Mrs. Claus wanted to Netflix and Chill  He's wanted for unlawful trespass in all 50 states. #SantaNoShowExcuses  #SantaNoShowExcuses Overslept while on the NYC subway pic.twitter.com/kZjis5EaL7  Elves on a hunger strike, demanding free candy and $15/hr. #SantaNoShowExcuses  Got in a snow ball fight. #SantaNoShowExcuses pic.twitter.com/xdJUoJCuje  #SantaNoShowExcuses The nice list got deleted. pic.twitter.com/xVLNDzSLbj  #SantaNoShowExcuses The Office Party got Him Lit Like Rudolph pic.twitter.com/fHyPWq6brX  One hour and a half into his journey and Santa has already delivered 24 million gifts. He is now under 15,000km from London!  A bit later than planned, but the NORAD Santa Tracker is finally up and running, follow Father Christmas on his epic journey across the planet delivering presents and scoffing more than a few mince pies.  A white Christmas is unlikely ...  If someone told me it's Christmas Eve, I wouldn't believe it with a weather like this pic.twitter.com/SkwCfOz0AE  Here's what London looks like today  Happy Christmas Eve-day #London pic.twitter.com/T04fxBbehx  Hopefully Santa can avoid this...  A 2 kilometre-long asteroid will be zooming past Earth on Christmas Eve https://t.co/wWi3npICkG pic.twitter.com/RvS6rOHXBB  A lot of people are very excited  I don't think I can convey how excited I am that it's Christmas Eve under the Twitter character count... So I'll just say this...  For those that struggle with small talk on Christmas Eve like me, pretend to check for texts and refer to list pic.twitter.com/JbvBSlwknC  Working on Christmas Eve uno.. What am I an elf??  Should be illegal to work Christmas Eve and Boxing Day  "Harry, I think it's Christmas Eve." - Hermione. pic.twitter.com/5Q6KDjQ7bI  Have a beautiful Christmas Eve pic.twitter.com/zx0Lhf29yM  Santa has already delivered hundreds of thousands of presents - what have you done today?  On the #santatracker he's already delivered thousands of presents  And #Santa is off! #santatracker pic.twitter.com/KYzLWL1fEP  #SantaTracker: Its only 413am in #DesMoines & Santa has delivered 400k gifts! What have you done today? #iawx #iowa pic.twitter.com/KWfcFvLGQF  Oh for goodness sakes- would someone please go up there and point him in the right direction!!! #santatracker pic.twitter.com/ywHez3kP0O  #Santa got his beauty sleep and needed rest. Good thing it doesn't feel like work when you do what you love! #NORADSanta #NORAD  Santa's biggest expenditure by far is making the toys, which sets him back £9.83bn. There is also paying his elves' wages, distribution channel costs and Expenses.  Meanwhile, his total income is £1.48bn. This means Claus Inc makes an annual loss of £8,421,792,249.  Read more about the Santanomics here.  Where could he cut costs?  Making a list, checking it twice? That's far too much manual labour for the digital age, explains Lauren Davidson.  All Santa's customers are connected to smartphones, signed up to mailing lists, buying toys throughout the year. Claus Inc should develop a predictive algorithm to determine what children want for Christmas and whether they're worthy, which would ease production pressure in the run up to the big day.  Here is Father Christmas' Christmas Eve - in numbers  "I'M SO EXCITED TO WATCH THE SANTA TRACKER I DON'T CARE"  We are SOOO EXCITED for #NORAD Tracks #Santa to start!! Join us as we track the world traveler! https://t.co/gSvRD6ezKo  Mrs Claus helps Santa with coat and gloves. #NORAD #SantaTracker2015 #ChristmasEve  Santa gives Yuletide speech to the elves. #NORAD #SantaTracker2015 #ChristmasEve  According to @NoradSanta the big man is giving a speech before heading out, I'm excited!!! #santatracker pic.twitter.com/Du11qBuG2d  I'm 25 but the thought of watching Google Santa Tracker is filling me with Christmas glee!  I really need to go have a shower but I'm obsessively staring at the NORAD Santa Tracker.  He's on his way!...... https://t.co/R7zm4KQ9ba #santatracker  The NORAD Santa Tracker is the best thing ever. Childhood memories  I'M SO EXCITED TO WATCH THE SANTA TRACKER TOMORROW I DON'T CARE  Mrs. Claus has just helped Santa with his coat and gloves and he is now giving a Yuletide speech to the elves, say NORAD, he probably doesn't need to pack any lunch.  No word yet on Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen.  Santa must have a lot of elves helping out in the North Pole. They've made quick work of shifting all those presents:  "All gifts are brought to sleigh-loading dock," say NORAD.  Here are the latest images of Santa as he prepares for his journey ...  You'll have to wait a little while longer before Google begins tracking Santa Claus' journey:  Not long to go now. More than 1,300 volunteers at NORAD are expected to answer about 120,000 telephone calls on Christmas Eve from children.  Happy Christmas Eve! NORAD will begin tracking Santa's journey from the North Pole at 8am. In the meantime, you can listen to some festive jingles on their website!  NORAD usually focus on defending US airspace but every December it helps children around the world track Santa Claus’ annual journey from the North Pole.  Santa's first stop is the Republic of Kiribati, a collection of 32 atolls in the Pacific Ocean, before he makes his way to houses around the globe.  In 1955, an advert promoting 'Santa's Toyland' at the Sears department store was published listing the phone number of CONAD - NORAD’s predecessor - by mistake.  US Air Force Col. Harry Shoup, director of operations for CONAD in 1955, took the call on a top secret line.  Col. Shoup had two phones on his desk, including a red one. "Only a four-star general at the Pentagon and my dad had the number," recalled his daughter Pam.  The red phone rang one day in December 1955, and Shoup answered it.  Pam continues: "And then there was a small voice that just asked, 'Is this Santa Claus?' "  His children remember Shoup as straight-laced and disciplined, and he was annoyed and upset by the call and thought it was a joke — but then, Terri says, the little voice started crying.  "And Dad realised that it wasn't a joke," her sister says. "So he talked to him, ho-ho-ho'd and asked if he had been a good boy and, 'May I talk to your mother?' And the mother got on and said, 'You haven't seen the paper yet?  "'There's a phone number to call Santa. It's in the Sears ad.'"  It was a perfect fit. After all, who better to spot where Santa's sleigh is flying than a major operation dedicated to monitoring the skies.  It also provided a nice change for the joint US-Canadian military division who spent the majority of their time checking their radar screens for a potential nuclear attack.  Years later Shoup’s granddaughter Carrie Farrell, worked for Google — and announced the formal partnership to the world through Google’s blog.  The service continued for the next 60 years and children have been able to track Santa online since 2007.  You can track Santa Claus, as he enjoys a ridiculous amount of mince pies, booze and cheese, and his reindeers, on the NORAD website.  The website is available in eight different languages and children can also follow Santa on special apps for tablets and cell phones.  "Users can see where Santa stops along different locations in the world," said Stacey Knott, the NORAD track Santa spokesperson. "Of course, we can’t show every single one of Santa’s stops but we do show a lot of those around the world and every single country."  The website adds: "Santa calls the shots. We just track him!"  For the 11th year in a row, Google has launched its own Santa Tracker, having previously partnered with NORAD. (No-one knows why they broke up).  You will be able to access Google’s Santa Tracker here, while in the meantime you can play festive games in ‘Santa’s village’, learn about holiday traditions in different countries and even give Santa a makeover.  “On Christmas Eve we’ll be proudly showcasing a Santa’s dashboard, the technology that powers his sleigh during his around-the-world journey,” Google explained.  “We’ve received this special preview from one of Santa’s many developer elves, who are hard at work in the North Pole helping Santa prepare for his big day.”  You will be able to follow his progress on desktop, mobile, tablet and Chromecast.  Google will be tracking Santa from 10am (GMT) on Christmas Eve.  NORAD starts tracking Santa at 8am GMT on Christmas Eve, when he begins his journey around the world.  Santa travels west to New Zealand and Australia, then Japan, over Asia and onto Africa, before heading to Europe, Canada, the US and Central and South America.  "Keep in mind, Santa’s route can be affected by weather, so it’s really unpredictable," the NORAD website warns. "It appears he only arrives when children are asleep."  Volunteers from within NORAD will help Santa take calls on the night. There are also volunteers from Google, Verizon and Air Canada, with the programme funded through corporate sponsorship.  Volunteers will answer more than 100,000 phone calls from around the world on the night, while the NORAD Santa website is expecting more than 22 million unique visitors. NORAD Tracks Santa has 1.5 million followers on Facebook and 150,000 on Twitter.  It's that time of year where we help spread holiday cheer. See our 2015 #NORAD Tracks #Santa video https://t.co/lQuCJsxrBA  The #NORAD Tracks #Santa website https://t.co/gSvRD5WYlO goes live Dec 1 w/new games added daily. Help us track the jolly fellow.  Among the questions children have had on their minds when they called in previous years:  "Am I on the nice list or the naughty list?"  "Can you put my brother on the naughty list?"  "How much to adopt one of Santa's reindeer?"  On Christmas Eve, there will be a strange object in the sky - that could easily be mistaken for Santa's sleigh.  Nasa have confirmed that the International Space Station will be passing over the UK on Christmas Eve.  This means that if you look closely, you may be able to see a foreign object in the sky.  The International Space Station is the largest man-made object in the sky, weighing in at around 100,000 pounds (the equivalent of more than 320 cars) and measuring 357 feet end-to-end.  Because it reflects light from the sun, it can look like a giant star - or, perhaps, a sleigh - as it passes by.  Virtual Astronomer has worked out that this year the ISS will pass over the UK in the late afternoon, rising in the west at 4.42pm, passing low in the sky and setting in the south east at 4.50pm.  They said on Twitter: "When the ISS passes over it will appear as an incredibly bright star like object or plane without flashing lights moving across the sky, it can be at times the brightest object in the night sky second to the Moon.  "As the station rises (from a westerly direction) it usually gets brighter but can be a challenge to spot at first. Make sure you have checked where it will rise from."  The non-Google affiliated folks who run the Google Earth Blog - a site "dedicated to sharing the best news, interesting sights, technology, and happenings for Google Earth" - have decided to resurrect The Google Earth version of the Santa Tracker.  In statement on their blog they say:  "This year, partly as a goodbye to the Google Earth API, which is expected to be shut down some time early next year we have decided to resurrect the Google Earth version of the Santa Tracker. We will be providing two different versions; one will run in the Google Earth API and the other within Google Earth.  "To view the Google Earth API version you will require a browser that still supports the Google Earth API, such as Firefox or Safari.  There are two other Santa Trackers this year, Google’s and NORAD’s. Google’s will be Google Maps based and NORAD’s will likely be based on the Cesium JavaScript library, as it was last year. Both Santa Trackers have countdowns.  "They differ by two hours, but last year NORAD’s countdown expired several hours before Santa actually took off. Our Santa Tracker will be as close as possible to Google’s Tracker, so you can take their count down as an indication as to when ours will start.  "We will publish the necessary links and instructions to access them on Wednesday, but for now Frank has done an introductory video showing what it will look like."  You can also use NASA's Spot the Station tool to work out when exactly you can see the ISS, based on the location of your nearest town/city.  Younger children may be excited that Santa is in the sky.  For older kids, it may be a useful and interesting lesson about space exploration.  This year marked the 15th anniversary of the ISS.  Since the launch of the first module in 1998, 211 astronauts from 15 countries have visited the ISS and over 69 countries have contributed to the development and running of the space station.  Over the years, the ISS has provided us with some of the most beautiful views of Earth.
NORAD and Google will help you track Santa on his 2015 journey on Christmas Eve - but at what time?