Items Featured In TGP Nominal Xtra - December Skies 2021
Ross Hockham's December Sky Guide:
Mercury pops up briefly with Venus looking bright above it in the afternoon sky.
Jupiter and Saturn are still up until around 22:00-23:00.
Uranus and Neptune are both up most of the night
but placed between constellations so hard to find.
Mars is close to the Sun in the morning sky, so a challenge to spot this month.
On the 2nd you can find a lovely morning thin crescent Moon rising around 5am
with Mars rising to its bottom left, an hour or so after
allowing you to see them both just before sunrise.
The blue star Spica in the constellation Virgo (The Maiden) will be higher to their right
with the big bright burning star Arcturus high above them
creating a cool morning welcome to the day.
On the morning of the 3rd, you can see the same cool sights as yesterday
but with the Moon having moved past Mars and at a really thin 1% lit, rising around 7am.
You’ll have to get out quick and spot it before the sun rises!
On the 4th, from around 16:30 this evening, watch and see if you can spot the brightening Venus
as the sky darkens with the setting Sun.
You should easily see the gas giant 'Jupiter' up to it's left
with the ringed planet 'Saturn' slightly fainter in between.
Grab a pair of binoculars or a telescope and pop it onto Venus and you will see that it is around 25% lit.
So looks like a thin crescent moon, you shouldn’t need a moon filter to dim it down to see.
On the 6th, go back to Venus this evening and you will see that the Moon has popped up just to its right.
It will again be a very thin crescent and maybe with a pair of binoculars you may get both in view at the same time.
The Moon will be moving past all these planets as the month goes on.
So you can follow its journey across the sky.
Another awesome view on the evening of the 7th, as the Sun sets around 17:00, Venus,
a 16% lit Moon, Saturn and Jupiter will again appear in the sky.
With the Moon more easily visible between Venus and Saturn.
You may also spot a bright blue star higher up from the triage of planets.
It’s the star Altair which is the tail of the constellation Aquila (The Eagle).
On the 8th, the Moon is now at 22% lit.
So it will be waxing and getting fuller each night as it moves left across the sky in its orbit around Earth.
It now sits between Saturn and Jupiter, slightly lower than the planets themselves.
On the evening of the 9th, the Moon will have shifted past Jupiter, sitting to its left.
You can now see how quickly the Moon moves through our skies.
It has waxed to 35% now, so it will start looking much brighter over the next few days.
The 11th is a great time to spot some cool objects on the Moon
seeing as we have been watching it for the last week or so.
Using a moderate sized telescope, see if you can spot the crater Albategnius around the mid point of the Moon.
You will see that the shadows cast in the crater create what looks like a smiling face looking back at you from the Moon.
To help you easily find it, here is a basic Moon Map for you to download
Fancy another face on the Moon? then have a peek at the crater Clavius on the 12th at around 22:00.
What you will see are two higher regions that stand out within Clavius's shadow.
Which just get a glint of Sunlight on them to make it seem like eyes are peeking out from the darkness.
Clavius is located towards the bottom of the Moon.
The 21st Marks the start of the winter solstice.
Where the Earth's poles are at their maximum tilt away from the Sun.
This means tonight is the longest night.
Where the Sun's central disc reaches its lowest point in the sky, relative to the stars.
This also means that the nights start getting shorter too.
The peak of the Ursid Meteor Shower happens in the early hours of the 22nd.
If you look toward the constellation Ursa Minor (Little Bear), Polaris (The North Star) is at one end of the constellation
while the radiant for these Meteors are towards the other.
It will only really generate a handful of shooting stars from a stream of debris left behind by Comet 8P/Tuttle
Unfortunately a bright Moon is up all night and may wash out all but the brightest meteors.
On the 24th 76% lit Moon occults a star around 4.16am.
This is where a minor star in the constellation Leo (The Lion) will slip behind the Moon, disappearing until 5.09am
when it will appear from the other side of the Moon.
So you can actively watch the Moon as it drifts through our skies.
On the 26th, you can apparently see six planets in one night!
The Sun sets at around 16:00, so with a low horizon you might see, just below the planet Venus, Mercury has popped up. Spot these two and you’re on your way!
As we know Jupiter and Saturn are also up, just to the left of Venus, so that makes four planets spotted.
You will have to wait until its darker to try and spot the next two and a telescope will be needed.
Uranus reached opposition in November, so should still be brighter to see, although its location is a bit tough.
Sat in the middle of nowhere between the head of the constellation Cetus (The Kraken) and Aries (The Ram).
You will need to star hop to get a glimpse of it.
The same it seems with Neptune.
As it is sat in between one of Fish heads of the constellation Pisces and Aquarius (The Water Bearer)
just above left of Jupiter, so an app is probably a must to find these two dimmer planets.
But you have most of the night to spot them!
Naked Eye Object Of The Month:
On the 13th, The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks over night, into the morning.
It's great Meteor Shower to see and as good (if not better) than the more famous Perseids Meteor Shower.
Being darker and colder than it is, in August, there’s more time and less light pollution to see them.
It is probably best viewed after midnight, they say that the 13th and the 14th are good times to spot them
The constellation Gemini (The Twins) is higher up later in the night, giving you the best chance of seeing more meteors.
The meteors radiate from the head's of the Gemini twins Castor and Pollux.
They say that they peak at an average of around 60-70 meteors an hour
but this all depends on how dense the dust cloud we are passing through is
and the light pollution in your area.
Some say it can peak at 120 meteors per hour.
Gemini is low to the East as the sun sets but will climb higher as the night goes on.
The debris we see burning up as shooting stars are from An Asteroid not a Comet like most others and
takes only 1.4 years to orbit the Sun leaving behind a dust lane that creates this annual meteor shower.
The Moon is in the way a bit but sets around 3am so hard-core astronomers have a few hours after
to spot some Christmas shooting stars.
Binocular Object Of The Month:
We spoke about Comet 2021 A1 Leonard last month, but it does seem to be getting brighter
making it easier to see with binoculars this month.
It will be passing just under Venus over the month, and you will need a low clear horizon
but some are suggesting it my become a naked eye comet.
It seems it will be best between 1st-13th December, where it can be found below and to the right of Venus
moving under and past it on 17th-18th.
It may be a bit tough to view, as the Sun hasn’t really set but I think its well worth a peek
if you can get to some higher ground high with a low horizon.
Be Careful Not To Look Directly At The Sun!
Telescope Of The Month:
Now it wouldn’t be December without this object being mentioned.
So if you have a telescope, why not see if you can find
The Christmas The Tree Cluster.
It can be found in the constellation Gemini.
By using the head of the twin Pollox as a starting point
move down to his left leg to the star Alzirr
not far from there you can find the Christmas tree cluster.
It's an awesome little cluster that’s formed by a group of very young stars that actually look like a Christmas tree.
With a bright star at its top, just like your tree at home.
There is also The Cone Nebula here but it’s very hard to see.
Those with a camera may pick it up if you fancy some astrophotography.
Various Videos:
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