Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic
This Month's Night Sky - NOTE: The next paragraph describes the sky as it
appears at 10 pm EST (11 pm EDT) near mid- month. The sky also looks
this way at 11 pm EST (midnight EDT) during the beginning of the month and
at 9 pm EST (10 pm EDT) by month's end.
Looking S, find hazy M45, the Pleiades Open Star Cluster
(Taurus). Above it are the stars of Constellations Perseus,
the famous "W" shaped asterism of Cassiopeia, and Auriga. As
the Pleiades moves across the night sky, it is followed by
a sister cluster, the fainter Hyades with the bright star,
Aldebaran at its tip. The stars of Orion, with its "hour>
glass" asterism "pinched in" by its three "belt" stars,
ascends from the SE followed by the bright stars, Procyon
(Canis Minor) and Sirius (Canis Major). Above Orion but
below Polaris (Pole star of Ursa Minor) shines Capella
(Auriga) and, to the E, glow Gemini's twin stars, Castor and
Pollux. Below, on the horizon, the stars of Leo are rising
while, in the SW another famous asterism, the Great Square
of Pegasus, spreads its diamond shape across the sky. It's
no wonder that many (hardy!)observers find the winter sky<
most interesting. Brr!
As the month begins MERCURY glows low in the ESE just before
sun rise. As the month progresses, it appears ever lower.
VENUS returns to the evening sky and sets about a half hour
after sunset at the beginning of the month. By New Year's
Eve, it remains for about an hour and a quarter after
sunset. MARS begins the month below Mercury but gradually
climbs toward the planet. JUPITER glows below Mars and
also climbs towards Mercury. These three planets almost
seem to touch on the 10th., about 40 minutes before sunrise.
It is predicted that an event such as this will not occur
again for some 47 years! SATURN rises at about 10 pm at the
beginning of the month but, by month's end, at 8 pm.
Saturn's rings are now almost edge-on and will be nearly
invisible. The MOON shines above Saturn on the 9th., near
the Jupiter/Mars/Mercury trio on the 18th. and below bright
Venus in the WSW in the evening of the 21st. The SUN
reaches its December solstice on the 21st. so Winter begins
in the Northern Hemisphere but Summer comes to those in the
Southern Hemisphere. The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks during<
the night of the 13th. - 14th.
Calendar of Events
NOTE: For those observers not in the ET zone, convert the calendar times to your zone's time by subtracting one hour for CT, two for MT and three for PT. Don't forget to adjust for Daylight Savings Time when necessary by subtracting one hour from your planisphere's time.; Dawn and dusk times must also be corrected. See your local newspaper, TV news, or cable TV's Weather Channel for sunrise and sunset times. Unfortunately some of these events may occur during daylight hours in your area.
| DATE | EVENT |
03 |
The nearly full Moon will occult (cover) some of the stars of M45, the Pleiades cluster (Taurus). Unfortunately, the bright Moon's glare will make it difficult to see the covered stars disappear and reappear. Begin watching at around 10 pm EST. |
04 |
Tonight's full Moon has many names. It has been called the Christmas Moon, The long night Moon and the Moon before Yule. |
09 |
Look E around 10:30 pm EST, to see a conjunction of the Moon and Saturn. |
10 |
Look SE, just before dawn, to see the bright star Beta Scorpii, Mercury, Mars and Jupiter clustered within a one degree circle. This is a splendid sight in binoculars or a small telescope. |
13-14 |
The Geminid meteor shower peaks. It is on of the best and most reliable of the year's meteor showers. Best viewing should occur between 9 pm EST until the Moon rises around 2 am early the following morning. For best viewing, bundle warmly (I use a heavy duty sleeping bag), lie back in a comfortable lawn chair, and gaze in the direction of the darkest sky (usually straight up!). An event should be visible every minute of two. If it happens to be cloudy during the peak, this shower tends to be active for a day before and a day after the peak. |
15 |
Look for a conjunction (less that a degree) of the Moon and the bright star Spica (Virgo) at 6 am EST. |
18 |
Look for a conjunction (4 degrees) of the Mars and the reddish star, Antares (Scorpius) at 10 pm EST. Can you tell them apart? (hint: Ant-aries means, against-Mars.) |
21 |
The December Solstice occurs at approximately 7:20 EST this evening. The Sun is as far south as it will get and now begins its six month's journey northward. Winter, here in the Northern Hemisphere, begins. |
22 |
Venus emerges as the "Evening Star". Look for it very low in the SW during twilight about a half hour after sunset. It will be about 10 degrees below and to the right of the Moon. The Ursid Meteor Shower peaks. Although not as strong as the Geminids, there is no Moon to interfere. As usual, the number of events improves after midnight. |
Lunar Almanac for December 2006
| Phases of the Moon | Phase and Date(s) | Best viewed before local midnight |
 |
New |
Deep Space Objects |
 |
1st. Qtr |
Planets & Moon |
 |
Full |
Moon |
 |
Last |
Deep Space & Planets |
Topic of the month: Deep Space Object: M31, Andromeda Galaxy
 |
Andromeda Galaxy --See you next month ! |
| The above image was taken from William Keel's "Gif Farm" at the University of Alabama's Astronomy Site. It is reproduced here by permission. The original image may be modified for Astra's Stargate, "What's Up, Ron?" feature page. For additional information, also see Bill's write up on M31. | |
This installment of "Whats Up?" is ©2006 Ronald A. Leeseberg, encoded by Dawn Jenkins for Astra's Stargate.
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