Items Featured In TGP NOMINAL Xtra - December Skies 2020
Ross Hockham's December Sky Guide:
On the 4th an almost 80% lit Moon will be rising close to M44 The Bee Hive Cluster.
It will be washed out through the naked eye but binoculars will reveal all the different coloured stars,
that are in this nice big open cluster, right in the middle of Cancer the crab.
It will be best viewed after midnight, as it will be higher in the sky.
For those comet spotters, on the 11th there’s a telescope opportunity to see if you can spot Comet141P/Machholz
passing through Aquarius and tonight it will be near the star Epsilon Aquarii helping you find it easier.
On the 12th, early risers will get to see a lovely crescent Moon rising just before the goddess of beauty, Venus.
Well worth getting up for just before the sun rises around 5-6am.
On the 13th, Morning people will be greeted with a bright Venus and very low 2% thin Moon rising around 7am.
If they look to the southeast, the Moon may be hard to spot at first, as it rises with the Sun.
On the 17th at around 17:00, just to the south west where the Sun has set, you will see a closing in of Jupiter and Saturn. With a thin crescent Moon, just off to their left. Saturn will be just above left of Jupiter.
On the 20th, take another peak at Jupiter and Saturn and you will see they are even closer in the sky this evening.
Today is also the start of the Winter Solstice.
Where Earth's poles has its maximum tilt away from the Sun, which gives us the longest night.
Where Earth's poles has its maximum tilt away from the Sun, which gives us the longest night.
The Ursid Meteor Shower peaks on the 22nd and is probably best seen in the Early Morning.
Look toward the constellation Ursa Minor (The Little Bear)
You can use the plough to find it, as Polaris (The North Star) is a part of the constellation.
It will only really be generating a handful of shooting stars and the Moon will wash some of these out also.
On the 23rd, Mars is above the just past half Moon this evening.
A great chance to see the Red Planet and some cool features on the Moon if you have Binoculars or a scope.
Don’t forget that Mars is now the easiest and probably brightest planet to see in the night sky,
until Venus pops up in the morning twilight.
NAKED EYE OBJECT Of The Month:
Over 13th/14th The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks over the night into the morning,
but it is prob best viewed after midnight.
The meteors radiate from the heads of Castor and Pollux (The Twins) that make up the constellation Gemini.
Gemini is higher up, later in the night, giving you the best chance of seeing more.
It is said that the Meteors peak at an average of around 60-70 an hour.
But this all depends on how dense the dust cloud we are passing through is and also light pollution in your area.
Gemini is low to the East as the sun sets but will climb higher as the night goes on.
It can be found just to the left of the constellation Orion and looks like two stick people holding hands on sky maps.
The debris we see burning up as shooting stars are actually from an asteroid that takes only 1.4 years to orbit the Sun, leaving behind a dust lane that creates this annual meteor shower.
With the Moon out of the way it’s a great time to spot some Christmas shooting stars.
BINOCULAR OBJECT OF THE MONTH:
A historic conjunction happens on the evening of the 21st.
With Jupiter and Saturn being the closest to each other in the sky for 399 years.
Throughout November, these two planets have been getting closer and closer in the evening sky,
and this month is probably the last good time to see them before they disappear below our horizon.
This afternoons conjunction is so close that it hasn’t been seen since 1621.
With the planets being only 20% of the Moon's diameter apart, they will look like a single planet with the naked eye,
but pop your binoculars on them and you’ll see that it is in fact 2 planets.
Just be careful as they will be close to the setting Sun,
and you will probably only have a hour or so window of opportunity to see them before they set.
TELESCOPE OBJECT OF THE MONTH:
Our Telescope object of the month, has been chosen by Dan Pye from the Kielder Observatory "I think the one thing that you have to mention around Christmas time, when we are talking about Astronomical Objects that are Christmas related is the Christmas Tree Cluster, which is also part of the Cone Nebula. It's a beautiful little cluster of stars within the constellation Monoceros (The Unicorn). It's to the top left if you like of where you would normally find the Rosette Nebula, which a big prominent Nebula in the horn of Monoceros. Monoceros is more the mid left of Orion and 15-Monoceros is the star that we're looking for. when you find this, you will see a cluster which is supposed to resemble a Christmas Tree. |
I reckon you'll be able to see it with a good back garden telescope or certainly with a larger aperture telescope.
Something like an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope with a Barlow lens.
I wonder if you'd be able to pick it out with a 32mm lens, possibly. It might be worth giving it a go. See if you can see it.
The Christmas Tree Cluster is an incredible thing to see or NGC 2264 for it's proper name if you like"
Because we are out looking out for the Geminids Meteor Shower,
Ross thought it might be fun to use their position to find The Christmas Tree Cluster.
"Start at the Gemini Twin Pollox’s head and move down to his left leg, to the star Alzirr.
Not far from here, you can find the Christmas Tree Cluster.
It's an awesome little cluster that’s formed by a cluster of very young stars,
that actually look like a Christmas tree with a bright star at its top.
There is also the Cone Nebula here, but its very hard to see,
but a camera may pick it up if you fancy some astrophotography.
It can be found by the designation NGC2264 on apps".
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and Clear Skies.
Something like an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope with a Barlow lens.
I wonder if you'd be able to pick it out with a 32mm lens, possibly. It might be worth giving it a go. See if you can see it.
The Christmas Tree Cluster is an incredible thing to see or NGC 2264 for it's proper name if you like"
Because we are out looking out for the Geminids Meteor Shower,
Ross thought it might be fun to use their position to find The Christmas Tree Cluster.
"Start at the Gemini Twin Pollox’s head and move down to his left leg, to the star Alzirr.
Not far from here, you can find the Christmas Tree Cluster.
It's an awesome little cluster that’s formed by a cluster of very young stars,
that actually look like a Christmas tree with a bright star at its top.
There is also the Cone Nebula here, but its very hard to see,
but a camera may pick it up if you fancy some astrophotography.
It can be found by the designation NGC2264 on apps".
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE and Clear Skies.
Click on the video above to watch our very own Mark Taylor's appearance on the JoeQCar Show
Ross mentioned that he will be hosting a new talk for Aylesbury Town Council about the origins of The Star Of Bethlehem.
If you want to get a gist of what the talk is about, we brushed on it on the 2019 Christmas Crossover.
(Click Here To Listen To Clip)
If you want to get a gist of what the talk is about, we brushed on it on the 2019 Christmas Crossover.
(Click Here To Listen To Clip)