Features: Calendar | Lunar Almanac | Monthly Topic
Also See December 2007 Bonus Issue of What's Up?
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.
I believe that the winter night sky is the most beautiful
of the year! By this mid-month misty Pleiades, the famous
open star cluster of the constellation Taurus, is visible
due S. at 10 pm. Although part of the constellation
Taurus, it lies above its "lazy V" asterism whose
brightest star, orangish Aldeberan, glows near the point
of the lower branch of the "V". Above are the
constellations Perseus, Cassiopeia (whose "W" shaped
asterism is unmistakable) and Auriga. Lovely Orion, whose
asterism reminds me of a slightly lopsided hour glass,
moves upwards from the SE. Note its three "belt" stars
located at the "pinch" of the hour glass. The hazy object
below the middle belt star is M42, the Great Orion Nebula,
a region of space where stars are being born. Orion is
followed by the bright stars Procyon (Canis Minor) and
Sirius (Canis Major). To the E shine the Gemini twins,
Castor and Pollux. In the SW, the diamond-shaped Great
Square of Pegasus stands on one corner while high in the
N, Ursa Major's asterism, the Big Dipper, stands on its
"bowl".
MERCURY hides in the Sun's glare all month and will not
be visible. VENUS continues as the "morning star" and
rises around 4 am at the beginning of the month. MARS
comes closest to Earth this month as it does every two
years. Its disk will appear larger this month than for
the next nine years. Although it should be quite
spectacular through the telescope, it will NEVER be as big
or as bright as our full Moon! (Every two years this
"notification" makes its Internet rounds and leads to
expectations that are very unrealistic.) JUPITER shines
low in the early night sky at the beginning of the month
and soon slips below the horizon into invisibility.
SATURN rises around midnight at the beginning of the month
but by month's end, it will be rising by 10 pm.
Two other events of interest are the possible naked eye
appearance of Comet 8P/Tuttle. Look for it near Polaris,
our "north star" at the beginning of the month and follow
it as it passes through Constellation Cassiopeia. It
should brighten and its "tail" should grow longer. Use
your binoculars after you locate it. The Geminid Meteor
Shower peaks on the 14-15th. after the crescent Moon sets.
It should offer good viewing all night.
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 |
05 |
The crescent Moon and Venus are 7 degrees apart, low in the SW about, an hour before sunrise. |
08 |
Tonight's is the year's earliest sunset. The day/
night cycle shifts a bit (due to the Earth's axial
tilt and its elliptic orbit) as the seasons change,
resulting a mismatch of the earliest sunset with
the longest night. |
14 |
The Geminid meteor shower peaks. Although most showers are best viewed during early morning hours, the Geminids can be viewed all night. Activity should start around 9 pm and get better as the night progresses. Remember that there might be activity during the nights before and after the peak. This shower is unusual because most showers are due to passing comets. This one's parent appears to be Phaethon, a three mile wide asteroid. |
18 |
Every two years Mars makes it biennial close approach to the Earth. Today's approach, at a distance of nearly 55 million miles, is as close as it will get until 2016. |
22 |
The solstice and the year's longest night occurs, welcome to winter! |
23 |
Tonight's (December's) full Moon is called,
appropriately enough, the "Christmas Moon".
|
24 |
Mars is at "opposition" to our Sun, which means that is rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. |
27 |
Look for a very close "conjunction" of the Moon and the bright star Regulus (Leo)at midnight. |
Lunar Almanac for December 2007
| 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: Lunar feature: Crater Langrenus
 |
|
Langrenus is an example of a very large walled plain. It
is located on the eastern edge of Mare Fecunditatis.
Although a fairly round crater, about 85 miles across, it
appears elongated in its N/S direction due to its
closeness to the Moon's east limb (edge). The top of its
rim is some 9000 feet above its floor and there is a 3300
foot high mountain range at its center. Note the deep
canyon that diagonally bisects this range.
--See you then ! |
|
| The above image was taken from Damian Peach's web site, " The Moon in Close Up " from Damian Peach's Views of the Solar System at www.damianpeach.com . This image is reproduced by permission. | |
This installment of "Whats Up?" is ©2007 Ronald A. Leeseberg, encoded by Dawn Jenkins for Astra's Stargate.
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