The Beautiful Orion Rising in the East
At the beginning of the southern summer, Orion rises above the eastern horizon and returns to being visible. From Rigel, located at his feet, starts weak contour line long river Eridanus, and then turn Achernar (located near the center of the visual field) very high in the south.
If you turn to the northwest, you come to see Fomalhaut in Pisces Austrinus. Near the northern horizon, stand the bright stars of Aries. Al suoeste and along the ecliptic from Aries, can be seen above the horizon the beautiful Pleiades cluster in the constellation Taurus. Al suodoeste is the bright star Aldebaran.
Individual sky events (December 2010)
December 1: 5 am Moon at perigee (closest to Earth in its orbit at 369, 430 km)
December 1 – 2: Waning crescent Moon passes above Saturn in the predawn sky. Look above the Eastern horizon.
December 2: 1 am Mercury at greatest elongation East (21 degrees)
December 3: Waning crescent Moon located to the left of the planet Venus in the dawn sky. Look low above the Eastern horizon.
December 6: New Moon
December 7: Very slim crescent Moon, Mars and Mercury form a temporary triangle low above the Western horizon in the evening twilight. Very difficult. A clear horizon and a pair of binoculars are recommended.
December 10: 8 pm Mercury stationary
December 11: Saturn only 0.05 degrees away from K Virginis. Morning sky.
December 13: Moon at apogee (furthest from Earth it’s orbit at 404, 406km)
December 13: First Quarter Moon
December 13: First Quarter Moon located below Jupiter.
December 13 – 14: Mercury passes Mars low above the Western horizon in the evening twilight. Difficult. Will require a clear horizon.
December 18: Mercury at perihelion
December 20: 11 am Mercury in inferior conjunction with the Sun.
December 21: Full Moon and Total Lunar Eclipse (for North America and a large part of the Pacific). From Eastern Australia, the total phase of the Lunar Eclipse will have ended by the time the Moon rises. The Partial Eclipse phase ends at 8.01pm AEST (add one hour if your location uses ‘Summer time’).
December 22: 10 am Summer Solstice
December 25: 10 pm Moon at perigee (closest to Earth in its orbit at 368, 465 km)
December 27: Venus at perihelion
December 28: Mercury at greatest latitude North
December 28: Last Quarter Moon
December 29: Waning crescent Moon located above Saturn. Morning pre-dawn sky. Star to right of Saturn (which forms a temporary triangle with Saturn and the Moon) is Spica – the brightest star in the ancient Greek constellation Virgo the Virgin.
December 30: 6pm Mercury Stationary
December 31: Waning crescent Moon located above Venus. Morning pre-dawn sky.
December features two meteor showers, the Geminid meteors and the Ursids meteors. The Ursids provide a quieter show, with about 9 expected per hour at peak, December 22. The Geminids are more active with up to 80 meteors an hour at peak, overnight December 13 into December 14. The Geminids seem to emanate from the constellation Gemini the Twins, which rises above the eastern horizon a couple hours after Sunset. All the other known meteor showers were believed to have been produced by debris left behind by comets, but the asteroid 3200 Phaethon is probably the parent of the Geminid meteor shower.
A Total Lunar Eclipse will darken the Moon on December 20 and 21. The entire event will be visible from North America with areas to the east, such as South America, Europe, and western Africa, catching the eclipse during Moonset and areas to the west, such as Australia and eastern and northern Asia, seeing the event at Moonrise. Only southern and eastern Africa, the Middle East and India and surrounding countries will miss out on the eclipse entirely. The limb of the Moon begins to fall into the dark shadow of Earth at 10:32 p.m. PST December 20, which is equal to 1:32 a.m. EST December 21 and 6:32 a.m. UTC December 21. The total stage, when the Moon is completely within Earth’s shadow, lasts for approximately 73 minutes, from 2:40 a.m. to 3:53 a.m. EST. During totality, the Moon can take on strange shades, from orange to red to violet, depending on the particulates in the atmosphere at different locations. The event is over by 5:02 a.m. EST.
Total Lunar Eclipses can only happen during a full Moon; therefore the full Moon for December occurs at 3:13 a.m. EST on the 21st. Winter officially arrives in the Northern Hemisphere later that day with the solstice at 6:38 p.m. EST or 11:38 p.m. UTC.
Uranus has been floating inconspicuously near Jupiter all through October, November, and December, and during this time period the two planets reach their closest on the last day of the year, December 31, when they lie just a little more than half a degree apart. Even though Uranus is relatively bright, at magnitude 5.8, it is very tricky to know which point of light is the planet and which is just another star. Its proximity to Jupiter over the end of 2010 will help observers finally nab it.
Jupiter and her Moons
While Uranus is quite close to Jupiter on December 31, it is not the point of light closest to Jupiter. It’s best to use a telescope to find Uranus. First aim it at Jupiter, the bright point of light in the west by the end of December. Through the telescope, you will easily see the disk of Jupiter and its Moons. The closest point of light to Jupiter is actually a star of nearly the same brightness as Uranus by the name of 20 Piscium. This star is just to the lower right of Jupiter on December 31. Uranus can be found farther above Jupiter and a little to the right. Remember that through a telescope, the view will be inverted, which means Uranus will actually be found below Jupiter as you star-hop through the eyepiece. Keep tracking these two planets into the New Year, when on January 5 they are half a degree apart and side by side.
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